A Slayer is born
by feistsgirl
Summary: A Vampire Slayer in Mystic Falls might be just what the town needs. Buffy finds herself the recruiting officer of a girl almost as deep in Vampire romance as herself. Perhaps a little healthy competition will aid Elena in making up her mind.
1. Chapter 1

_It was strange being back in a small town. Where the streets were scrupulously cleaned, the parks manicured and demons lurked in every shadow. It wasn't Sunnydale but the night air held a similar, eerie chill. A blonde woman strode the streets in an almost nonchalant fashion. Nobody would have suspected how far her senses reached or how keen her instincts were. A stake sat comfortably in the back of her jeans, hidden by the folds of her billowing, leather jacket.  
She missed Rome. She'd left her sister there, under protest. But she had insisted that she would not be away for long. In the years that had followed the First's defeat Buffy Summer's had been trekking the globe, seeking out the potential Slayer's Willow had woken. She had assembled a small, powerful army of them. Girls. Soldiers. Slayers. Small bands of them had been assigned to various problem areas. These were slowly becoming prominent authority figures across the seven continents (unbeknownst to human law enforcement) and the demon realm were paying attention. _

_Still, a trip to the states was inevitable. Angel still had his agency in L.A. and despite the Hell Mouth being obliterated, demons and magical creatures were like cockroaches. And that made them, in much the same way, like humans. For no matter how difficult life became, people always found a way to survive. _

_The click of her boots echoed innocently on the pavement. For the next few days she was just another "typical" resident of Mystic Falls - she figured whatever problems they had been having couldn't possibly be worse than what she had faced in her decade of service. But she hadn't just come to Mystic Falls to assess the level of demonic distress the town suffered. Willow had been busy in Rome as well. She had founded her own witches' coven, a few members had gravitated from the coven in London and others she'd merely attracted from her own travels. Not only had the magical upheavals of the small town drawn their notice, but the town could now boast it's very own slayer. It was up to Buffy to find the girl and bring her into the fold. _

_She'd arrived late that afternoon, the clerk at the hotel had been friendly and helpful and particularly eager to disclose all kinds of information about the most notable town inhabitants. That was the great thing about small towns. Everyone knew everyone and everyone's business. What had most interested her, were the reverent tones in which he'd disclosed the town's newest residents. A family in fact, The Mikaelsons, quite sprung from thin air and come to reside in a newly built mansion. The skinny concierge beamed brighter than the canary yellow of his uniform as he described the beautiful and mysterious lot of them. They didn't care for the inconspicuous and were always seen around town. But it had always been her understanding that vampires did not come out during the day…_

_Elena Gilbert regarded herself in the bathroom mirror. Sunlight streamed in through the window in a display of what was to be, a beautiful day. But nothing seemed all that beautiful today. She had been training herself hard for weeks. Hours were spent at the gym, drilling with Alaric. And she found that she could run for miles and not feel a thing. Her progress was startling. But even as she looked into her own brown eyes. So hopeful and ready to take on anything, there was the smallest twinge in the depths of her fiery heart that begged the question, Would things ever be right again? She yanked her raven hair into a ponytail and dressed. Downstairs the doorbell rang and she heard Alaric's voice as he answered it. _

_Buffy smiled politely at the anonymous man who answered the Gilbert's door. He was tall but then again she'd never drawn strength from her height. His grey eyes were suspicious but he returned the smile. She couldn't read his thoughts and hardly knew how much trouble beautiful, blondes caused in Mystic Falls already. _

"_Good Morning," she began._

"_Well, Good Morning. Can I help you?"_

"_I hope so, I'm looking for…"_

_The short dialogue quickly broke off when a beautiful brunette jogged down the staircase and into view. Buffy locked eyes with the girl who had now halted and crossed her arms over her chest. _

"_Who's this, Ric?" _

"_Hadn't quite gotten there yet," he chuckled good naturedly. But she felt the tension rise immediately and rushed to dispel it._

"_Oh, I'm Anne." She had always used the pseudonym when travelling, thinking it the least dishonest of choices and well, she didn't care for undesirables tracking her whereabouts. "I need to speak to you." Her eyes locked on the girl's again. Alaric cleared his throat._

"_Anne, I'm Ric."_

_He stood back and extended his hand. She would have to cross the threshold to take it. So, they were already informed. She didn't bat an eyelash and accepted the handshake. The pair of them relaxed visibly. Somewhere in the house a phone rang and Elena nodded that Alaric should answer it. Finally left alone Buffy could take Elena's hand._

"_I'm Elena Gilbert. Do we know each other?" She seemed a sweet tempered girl. But tough. The sweats she was dressed in indicated she was on her way out for a gym session and Buffy wondered if Elena knew the true extent of her physical strength._

"_Yes and No. It's a long story and it's an unbelievable one. But something tells me you'll be more understanding of it than others who've heard it."_

_Elena nodded slowly. A frown steadily made it's way onto her face but she didn't say anything for a long time._

"_Are you a witch?"_

_Buffy laughed. "No, but my best friend is."_

"_Mine too."_

_Klaus was bored. Which was terribly unfortunate for anyone who crossed his path. When he was bored he was perhaps at his most dangerous. There was a beautiful woman who consumed his thoughts and since he couldn't have her, at the moment (There was no doubt in his mind he'd have her eventually) Mystic Falls seemed an utterly dull place. He was staring up at the ceiling, his long, muscled body barely fit onto the sofa. He might have looked like an angel with his golden halo of hair, but his ravaged eyes betrayed the comparison._

_It was perhaps the first time in a thousand years that he and his siblings were living together. Consciously. A chilling smirk crossed his face. He was __**such **__a bastard._

"_And what do you find so amusing?" Rebekah pouted at her older brother. She was lazily arranged on a sofa opposite him, scrutinising the fashions of the twenty-first century in some magazine. She didn't share the masses love of fluorescent colour schemes. Perhaps Niklaus would store her away until the hideous trend was over. _

"_You. Nothing better to do? No Salvatore brothers to screw?"_

_She fumed. "Like you can talk, Nik, Are you hiding Caroline in here somewhere?" She laughed in his face. "You have all but rolled over. And for a child! A common, vampire brat." _

_Rebekah turned back to her magazine, with a triumphant toss of her platinum locks. She wasn't quite fast enough when he toppled the sofa, with her on it and threw it into the neighbouring wall. The brickwork crumbled and dust enveloped the room for a few moments. Elijah looked up at Klaus through the gaping hole once it had settled. He had closed the book he was reading to give him a typical bemused expression._

"_I didn't like that wall there either," He murmured._

"_That's why you're my favourite, Elijah. You're unfailingly agreeable."_

_There was a second, resounding thud from behind them. Klaus looked up, mystified as the house shook. All three of them turned, Rebekah glared over the sofa and at Kol. He still had his fist poised over the similarly large hole he'd punched in the living room wall. _

"_Kol?" Klaus spoke up. The disapproving tone in his voice had Kol questioning his actions._

"_Aren't we re-decorating?" _


	2. Chapter 2

Damon Salvatore swung into the Grill. As all of the female inhabitants sent him appreciative looks, Alaric rolled his eyes. Typical. He had been concerned that Elena had agreed to a private meeting with this stranger, even if it was in public. The girl was a magnet for trouble and far too trusting of people despite all that had happened to her. In a way it was a relief, it would have been a shame to see one so young become a certified cynic. Even if she, more than anyone, had earned the right to be so. Naturally, he had called Damon to help him play investigator but was already regretting the decision. Inconspicuous was not a trait that Damon possessed, particularly when it came to Elena.

_Alright, there they are, _Ric pointed to a table quite separate from the rest of the patrons. Damon eyed Elena and then his gaze travelled over the woman.

_Cute,_ he thought. And he hadn't thought that about another woman in a very long time. She had luminous hair of gold that cascaded over her shoulders. Goldilocks. She had a soft complexion and green eyes that were steadily but carefully drinking in the room. For a moment her eyes locked with his but kept moving. If he had had a heartbeat, he imagined that for a moment it would have stopped or sped to a gallop. He didn't know which. He frowned and ordered a drink.

_What is it? _Alaric nudged him. _What are they talking about?_ Damon downed the glass of scotch and gestured for another. He couldn't hear anything coming from the table, it seemed they were both deep in thought.

The Grill boasted a great many similarities to the Bronze, the pool tables, the performer's stage. That same alcoholic aroma that filmed the air. And excitement. It wasn't a club in the same way the Bronze had been but it was the coolest place to be for the teens of the town, particularly when there wasn't a whole lot of town to choose from. She didn't see any cockroaches which might have been a nice change for some but she supposed that was where the comparison had to end. She wasn't in Sunnydale. She had left Sunnydale behind a long time ago.

Her eyes drifted over the people coming and going. Always watchful. There was one man who happened to catch her glance. He was standing with Ric, the man she'd met that morning and who Elena had explained was her guardian. Buffy deduced he knew Elena from the way he looked in their direction with his feline eyes. They were protective and wild at the same time. In that one moment it seemed he exuded both sex and wary. But there was something else. It twisted most distinctly in her gut. Vampire. She would have to shelf the thought for now, too many questions. She finally took note of the patient expression Elena wore and apologised for her absence.

_You look like you're somewhere else, _said Elena_. _

_I kind of was. This place reminds me a lot of…I lived in a town like this once. _

Elena motioned that Buffy should continue. She was affording a lot of patience and kindness to a complete stranger and it touched the Slayer considerably.

_I suppose my life began there, I wasn't the person I was supposed to be until someone had the discussion with me that I would like to try to have with you. I was younger than you, you're what, eighteen?_

Elena nodded. Her eyes growing serious.

_Destiny, that town was my destiny. _She laughed. _If it were me in your position all over again I'd have the wiggins. Meeting you here, in this town…I have to hand you your destiny now, Elena. Even if you don't think you're ready for it, your destiny is already waiting for you. _

Elena took a gulp from the glass of water in front of her. As it was, her life was already up in the air. She had had to send her younger brother away for his safety and happiness, leaving her devoid of any blood relatives. The oldest vampire family of all time was in town and she was at the top of their _list_ and she was having a terrible time coming to terms with her ex vampire boyfriend's murderous rampage and an equally confusing time of deciphering her feelings about his vampire brother's advances.

_I'm ready, _was all she could say.

Buffy set her gaze intently into Elena's.

_There used to be a town called Sunnydale, for seven years it was my home, my prison sentence and my job. Below the town there was something called the hellmouth…_

Alaric and Damon sat at the bar for the entire conversation. Neither of them spoke a word, Ric was ready to tear out his hair with impatience. Damon's face was blank as he listened. But he swallowed glass after glass of scotch. Vodka. Bourbon. The pair of them left together when the conversation was finally over.

_We have a problem, don't we. _Ric said it as a statement for there was no doubt from the unusual silence that consumed his Vampire friend. They _did _have a problem. A big one.

_We need to find Stefan._

Elena staggered up the stairs to her bedroom. The world seemed out of focus and strange. The Slayer, Anne, had told her she was actually called Buffy. So Buffy had offered to walk her home but Elena declined.

_You can reach me at the Mystic Motel. We will need to speak again soon. _

_I know,_ Elena replied.

They had talked for hours. She had brought to life a whole other world for Elena, full of more demons than she expected, evils and magic. Elena wanted to hate her for it. _How dare she come here, and now. How dare she hand me more responsibility. Isnt there enough blood on my hands already?_

She threw herself onto the bed and stared at the ceiling. But Buffy had brought her hope. Something she had thought was slipping away. She was offering her the chance to make things right, to be a woman. She was offering her a chance to stand on her own and be something other than a doppelganger burden. Their conversation shifted through her mind on a loop as she drifted into half sleep.

…_generation, a slayer is born. She alone fights the forces of darkness…but now there are slayers all over the world…_

Her own voice crept in.

_How am I supposed to believe all of this? _

Buffy had grown quiet then and leaned back in her chair to study Elena.

_Lets' not pretend you don't know about the vampires. You have a witchy best friend as you said. Things are already heating up in Mystic Falls- you're needed._

_So it's all up to me then? _

Buffy extended a hand to hers and patted it gently. _It feels that way. It can be very lonely a lot of the time. The decisions you have to make aren't just for you, but the preservation of human life. It's scary and it's hard. Every day…_

She pulled the covers over her head. Buffy had possibly told her everything of the Slayer history, everything that she needed to know, at least for now. But Elena hadn't told her about the vampires she had come to love or the original vampire family. She didn't tell Buffy that vampires walked in the daylight here with enchanted jewels. She was frightened. The Slayer could kill all of the people she loved and for the greater good. But according to Buffy, she was a Slayer too. She needed to tell someone and dialled Bonnie's number. The phone slumped in her hand and she hung up. She had to keep everyone in the dark as long as she could, she would keep them all safe. She couldn't confide in anyone just now.

_You would not have been chosen had you not had this strength within you. The power has been there all along, Elena. It's yours and nobody can take it away from you._

Stefan Salvatore stared into the fireplace as his older brother and Alaric recounted the events of the day, from the moment the doorbell rang at the Gilbert residence to the scraping of chairs as they exited the Grill. A Slayer? Didn't they exist only in television sitcoms? But then again weren't vampires, werewolves and witches the product of fairy tale also? Not one of them was in a position to question the legitimacy of the other's existence.

When the pair of them were through Stefan leaned back into the lounge chair, his eyes dancing between them.

_What do you think, Brother? _Damon asked. _Should we go hunt us up a Slayer?_

Stefan shook his head. _We could be walking straight into a trap. Who says her story checks out at all? Anyone could have sent her. _

Alaric nodded his agreement. _I wouldn't put it past Klaus or the others. They could be luring Elena somewhere with a human pet of theirs. _

_But human means she's easy to kill, _Damon bit off, annoyed to be overruled. _To me this doesn't look like The Originals handiwork. Its's too subtle. _

Stefan considered for a moment, his eyes locking with Alaric's. There was a silent exchange and Stefan got up to leave.

_You're right. And who better to ask than the Mikaelson's themselves._

_Have you lost your mind? Again? _Damon could barely control himself now. _If_ _you keep this up, I'm gonna have to be the responsible one. _

_Alaric and I will pay them a little visit…_Damon meant to interrupt but Stefan silenced him. _Look, our family journals only extend so far, neither of us has ever heard of anything, or read of anything in the town records. But the Originals have a thousand year long memory. Who else would know?_

_Do you hear yourself? You and Ric? Why can't I go with Ric? Or just us? Some quality time, Stef. _

_You see, Damon, _Stefan said patronisingly. _We want to get valuable information out of Mikaelsons, not drive them to a killing spree, starting with us. _

_And what am I supposed do while you're out on your suicide mission?_

Alaric smiled and clapped his friend on the back. _You're going to go track this Buffy down and keep an eye on her for the night. Try to stay invisible, will you?_

Stefan indulged in a spell of dry laughter and the three of them departed. Damon didn't know what was more irritating, that he was being delegated the grunt work, once again, or that he was looking forward to seeing Buffy Summers up close.

Alaric was holding his breath as he mounted the stairs to the front door. He liked to think that Stefan was doing the same, but couldn't be sure. Ever since Stefan had broken free of Klaus' compulsion things had been different. Perhaps the worst thing was that his relationship with Elena was changed forever. He now faced a competitor for her affections in the form of his brother…perhaps _this _weighed on his mind more. Stefan's nature was already inclined to brooding and Alaric could see him struggling to hold onto his humanity. The one person in his life, who made it worth living, played a treacherous game, unaware of just how tight a grip she possessed of his heart strings.

They didn't ring the doorbell. Nor did they knock. Instead, the door opened quickly and without a sound. The entryway was empty and the hallway that led into the expansive reception area was dark. Alaric took a step forward but felt Stefan grip his arm. He followed Stefan's gaze behind them to where Elijah stood, alone.

_Can I help you gentlemen? _

Elijah led them through the house, it was a lot less dazzling from the night of the ball but nonetheless breathtaking in its intricacies. If they hadn't felt so like prey, searching desperately for a hiding place in a lion's den – they might have been able to admire the artworks that coated the walls, or the resplendent furniture and colour schemes. The rich weave of the rugs that decorated the floors and even the scent of the air. It was ancient and sacrosanct. They walked past a lounging area and Alaric nudged Stefan. They exchanged frowns at the crumbling walls, the brickwork had endured such a severe thrashing that some of the ceiling appeared to be sinking.

Elijah sensed their piqued interest.

_What can I say, my brothers are animals. _

Alaric gave a hesitant laugh and Stefan nodded into a smile. _I can relate._

_Are the animals at home?_ Alaric asked when they finally settled into a study. The chairs were cosy, a part from a high backed, leather chair that meant business, residing behind an Edwardian desk. A fireplace crackled almost pleasantly and cast a performance of shadow dancers all around the room. Elijah assumed the throne and clasped his hands in front of him.

_No, they're not at home. Out gallivanting I've no doubt, _he said these words with the indulgent tones of a father. Affectionate and amused. _So you're quite out of harm's way, for the time being at least. Before you begin your questions, which you no doubt have. I'd like to enquire as to what benefit this business offers my family and I. In other words, why should I help you?_

_This is a precarious time for you, _Stefan began. _I don't mean that as a threat, but more as a point of fact. Klaus has earned you a great many enemies…and your…tendencies to disregard ethics, morals…-_

_Find the point quickly, Mr Salvatore, _Elijah said sweetly.

_Information for Information, _he replied abruptly. _For if what you have to say confirms our own suspicions, then our problem becomes your problem. _

Elijah sent a look in Alaric's silent direction with a slightly raised brow.

_What he said. _


	3. Chapter 3

_How did she take it?_ Willow asked.

_Same as they all do. She's scared, overwhelmed…_

_But she believes you?_

Buffy didn't say anything into the receiver for a long time. She sat stock still on the bed of her humble hotel room. There really wasn't any other way to describe the comfortable surroundings. The walls were painted an unobtrusive shade of pastel blue and the entire floor was quiet. She hadn't even considered the time difference, calling up her best friend as soon as she walked through the door, after her rendezvous with Elena.

_I think so, yes…It was the strangest thing at the Grill. That man, Alaric and some vampire walked straight on in. From the front entrance. In the daylight, Wil._

_And you're sure this other guys' a vampire? Who was he?_

_One problem at a time. I couldn't just leave her there and question him. They all know one another. He'd come in with Alaric to watch out for Elena. The only question is whether Elena knows what he is or what he's up to. _

_Not all vampires are driven by evil, you knew that before the rest of us, Buff. But the daylight thing. I'll look into that. _

_Thanks. _

_Is he cute?_

_So not the point. How's Dawn?_

She took a walk through the town after she hung up. If vampires had found a way to make the sun a non-issue, then the one natural barrier that protected humans was gone. It was a terrifying thought. The only other incident she could think of that coincided was when, some years ago, Spike had gotten a hold of a magical ring. The gem of amarra. It not only made him invulnerable to the sunlight but to death. But that had been a one-time deal. The risks involved in possessing the gem had even driven Angel to destroy it. Her mind whirred with the possibilities but she still noticed the very obvious scuff of footfalls behind her and turned to meet them.

Damon regarded the Slayer up close, she wasn't so tall and that made him smile but she was as beautiful as he remembered.

_A pretty thing like you shouldn't be walking the streets alone at night. It can be dangerous._

He had a very powerful yet caressing voice. It was hypnotic. Definitely a vampire.

_I could say the same of you. _

He gave a polite, if not, false flustered smile and she laughed.

_What do you want, Vampire?_

She continued to walk and he matched his pace to hers.

_Vampire? You shouldn't buy into the gossip of this town it'll…_

_Those dumb blonde stereotypes don't really apply to me, so you can drop the act. _

_Well okay then. _

He came at her, quickly and forcefully. He had her up against the alley wall and with his hands poised around her throat. What he didn't expect was the greater force that she used to reverse their positions. It was with stunning reflex that she already had a stake poised over his heart.

_Let's cut to the chase shall we, What do you want with Elena?_

_What do I want with her? You came into my town, I think I'll ask the questions._

He felt the tip of the sharpened wood scrape against his flesh but didn't flinch.

_Not really in a position to interrogate __**me**__, are you? But I figured you tuned in today. Tell me this, Does Elena know what you are?_

_Yes, she knows. _

_Next question. How do you walk in the day? Why aren't you a pile of ashes?_

He smirked now, _Vampires die a little differently here, perhaps you need to brush up on your research. I can point you in the direction of the library._

He howled when the full force of the stake met the soft flesh beside his heart. Buffy slowly removed it and poised it over the rapidly healing wound while he gritted his teeth. She had to concede. The Vampires really were bred differently here. She nearly smiled and he chose that moment to knock her flat. He was embarrassed to find that he still couldn't budge.

_Slayer, Bitch. _

_The name's Buffy, actually, though you'd already know that. _

_I'm Damon, Pleasure. _

She loosened her grip, gave him a soft shove into the brick wall and stood back. He wasn't a threat to her. Not really. Tonight was to be about bargaining, he wanted information from her and she from him. So she'd have to find some common ground.

_Can I buy you a drink, Damon? Vampires drink here, don't they?_

_A little. _His smirk was both forgiving and mischievous.

Elijah listened intently, his eyes passing over both Stefan and Alaric as they juggled the conveniently edited recount of the day's events. It was a nice little story. Elena again. All problems began and ended with the doppelganger teen. He suppressed a smile at this, arranging his face into something more sober and even annoyed.  
_I have to say, gentlemen, You disappoint me_. He leant back into his chair and folded his arms. _In fact, I fail to see how a Slayer in Mystic Falls poses any problem for your brood and my family._  
Neither of them stirred but Alaric was beginning to think that in playing down the threat they were not in fact being taken seriously at all. Stefan spoke up first, seemingly unperturbed.  
_I take it that means you have some knowledge of Slayer's, you can verify the authenticity of the occupation. _Alaric all but heard _check mate_ in the young vampire's tone. Elijah smiled now. He hated to admit, even to himself, that he was fond of the younger Salvatore. He could admire his sense of justice, relate to his sense of honour and even sympathise with his love-weakened heart. But that didn't mean he had to tell the pair of them everything, or anything in particular. What he wanted was to stand up, clasp his hands behind his back and walk to the window. He wanted to remind himself that life still carried on outside despite his thousand years of suspended existence. He could have regaled them with stories that made them scream with agony and despair or laughed til they cried. Stories all very real to him. Experiences all felt by him. Lifetime upon lifetime. Instead the pair of them regarded him, awaiting his rebuttal.  
_Into every generation, a slayer is born. Or so the saying goes. One girl in all the world to fight the demons...Vampires were not the first supernatural creatures to walk this earth, but I shall ensure they are the last. Your Buffy Summers bears very little threat, A slayer is but an annoyance to our kind. Their most potent attribute is perhaps their persistence. So unless you choose to indulge me further, I can little understand your concern._  
_From what my brother and Alaric witnessed, she is more than a little annoyance. She claims to have established an army of Slayers. Can you really be so sure of their harmlessness?  
Among my siblings I hold the record for Slayers...put down. Their strength is questionable, reflexes perhaps slightly above average. And as for speed, well, it's laughable.  
You've come up against them?_ Alaric relaxed back into his own chair in wonderment.  
_In my experience there has only ever been one slayer at a time. They have an annoying habit of being called to duty when the old slayer dies but it's hardly a crisis._  
_And now that she's interfered with the set up? More slayers, all over the world?_ Stefan was reeling.  
_I haven't come up against a Slayer let alone a dozen in decades. But if you're as concerned as you sound, then kill her._ He did stand up now, but didn't move from behind his desk. _She's only human_.  
It was time to change tactics, Stefan realised.  
_Just how informed are the Slayer's of Vampire origin?_  
_Now why would you want to know a thing like that? I_t wasn't Elijah who answered, but a smooth and amused voice from the doorway behind them. _It's a party in here. Elijah? Why were we not invited?_ Klaus asked, mock insult rising in his tone. Kol smiled at his brother's shoulder, shutting the door behind them.  
Even Elijah's expression hardened. Brother or no, the last thing he needed was Klaus causing a scene. Some quiet, unencumbered time with his family would be very much welcome. Quiet and unencumbered were two words that a thousand yearlong existence could not lend meaning to, at least when it came to Klaus. He smiled his way to Elijah's back, extending a polite hand to Stefan and Alaric in greeting. He finished by resting a firm hand on his older brother's shoulder. Kol resolved to lean against the door. Alaric didn't miss the "door bitch" stance as he folded his arms.

_Please carry on with what you were discussing, slayers, was it?_ Klaus smirked.

_I think we have taken up enough of your time. We'll just be going,_ Alaric stood up but Stefan shook his head.

_All they have is time, Ric,_ Stefan ran his hands over his face and head. _I take it that Slayer knowledge is limited when it comes to our origin. Or perhaps it's just lucky that none of them have ever killed any members of the original family._ Stefan looked not to Klaus but directly into Elijah's eyes for some hint of assent.

Both Kol and Klaus erupted into hysterics, Elijah ever stalwart retained his dignity.

Kol spoke up first, suppressing his laughter_. Luck? Lucky for __them __perhaps that we never went after their precious watcher's council in the first place."_

_Or hunted down each of their families,_ Klaus continued. _It all became a rather tiresome and repetitive game though, we agreed to let them alone with their role-playing._

_Heroes,_ Kol muttered, shaking his head in mock despair.

_I could not have said it with more eloquence and dignity myself, _Elijah piped up as though emerging from a dream. He stood, concluding the "party". _I trust you gentlemen can show yourselves out, I'll have a word with my brothers._

Stefan didn't hesitate this time but stood with Alaric. Kol seemed ready to cause trouble but a look from Elijah had him freeing the exit.

When they were outside again in the cool evening air Alaric spoke up. _Well that was a waste of time._ They made their way over to the car but Stefan was silent and considering. _I wonder if Damon was any more successful with his assignment._ This broke the silence as Stefan put the car into gear and sped off, chuckling.

Kol settled himself into Stefan's absented chair. _Don't be mad, Elijah..._ he began.

_Be quiet,_ Elijah replied calmly. _We have a slightly more pressing circumstance to get in hand, your unbridled manners can wait._

Klaus wasn't smiling anymore - he had his back to both of them and was staring into the fire. A Slayer here in mystic falls, it was a catastrophe. _What did you tell them?_

Kol's forehead creased in confusion as he heard the rising urgency in his older brother's tone.

_I told them nothing, they left this room knowing less than when they walked in._

_Are you absolutely certain of that?_ Klaus said, turning. His eyes were ablaze with anger and...worry.

_I can assure you that in the instance of an error, the blame will not rest upon my shoulders._

_Pointed much. Brother,_ Kol scowled. _What the hell is going on anyway?_

_The less you know the better for the rest of us,_ Elijah said.

Kol opened his mouth in objection but Klaus remained silent as well. _Niklaus!_

_Elijah is right. For now._

He made to leave.

_We're not finished here, we need to discuss...measures,_ Elijah said.

_Is it her?_

Elijah sighed.

_Then there is only one measure. We need to end this. Now. I trust you have no objections?_

Damon smiled flirtingly_, Cheers to you._

Buffy met his smile with a dry laugh and the loud clink of their glasses echoed the Grill.

_Do you often salute the people that stab you?_

_Only the pretty ones,_ he said with a wink.

She continued to chuckle. _We should probably get a few things straight, meaning I've dated a few of your kind before - so don't tempt me._

They both settled into drunken giggles and Damon raised his hand for another round.

_Why Miss Buff, The Slayer. I'm shocked._

_Me too and I was there,_ She squinted her eyes in a mock attempt to focus. She hoped her little performance was believable. Playing drunk hadn't been so much of a necessity in Rome, it helped having a willing brood of slayers to do the wet work for you.

_Well, you definitely have something. You just say the word and I will happily concede as contender number..._

_Four,_ she answered. Gulping down the remainder of her beer.

_Four? How old are you?_ He cried. Damon's beer sloshed all over the counter. Playing drunk was such a breeze, he'd have her talking any second.

The bartender hesitantly approached the uproarious pair, _I'm...I'm going to have to cut the two of you off._

_Cut us off?_ Buffy asked, incredulous_. Who are __**you **__to single __**us**__ out of everyone? Huh?_

_Well, Miss, there's nobody else here. The bar closed...half an hour ago..._

Damon gazed around the dark and oddly empty room. _Closed?_

_Yes, closed,_ the young bartender said.

He backed off as they descended into a bout of hysterics that would have put hyenas to shame. Drunks, he thought. Damon extended a gentlemanly hand to Buffy and helped her out the door. She leaned heavily against him, the smell of her fragrant shampoo reaching him. There was definitely something intoxicating about this young woman, Slayer or no. He wasn't finding it so difficult to believe that she had snagged herself a series of Vampire Boyfriends.

_Oh I think I can manage,_ she said. Gently detangling herself from him. Point of fact, no matter how undead a gorgeous vampire male might be, they could still make her blood boil. She proceeded to do her best impression of a drunk walk, lazy and leisurely.

_So...where to next?_ Damon said, stumbling a little.

Buffy did a quick mental calculation, there could have only been another four hours til sunrise but seeing as sunrise wasn't an issue for his particular breed of vampire...she had plenty of time.

_Well. My hotel room has a mini-bar._

He cocked a brow at her suggestive remark._ Lead the way._

Elena opened the front door. Stefan looked up at her with a small smile.

_It's late,_ Elena said.

_You're avoiding me,_ his smile not dimming a fraction.

_Not exactly. I just needed some time to think._

_Think about that woman who came to see you? The Slayer?_

Elena folded her arms in annoyance.

_Ric told you...and you've been spying on me. Damon too, I'll bet._

She couldn't keep still and ran a hand through her hair. He could see the frustration spilling out of her. Why couldn't she just open up to him.

_We don't mean to pry. But between Klaus wanting to use you as his personal blood bank and every other problem that seems to inevitably find...you...we can't help but be suspicious. And concerned._

_I can take care of myself, _she said the words determinedly. _More than you know._ Their eyes locked but her mind was like a snow storm. She couldn't see past the events of that afternoon.

_I know, Elena. I know your strength but you can't do everything on your own._ She didn't push him away when he pulled her into his arms. Although the confusion didn't lift while she was caught in Stefan's embrace, it was still the most comforting place she could think of. But then there was Damon. Her heart tripped and she pulled away but kept hold of his hand.

_Where is Alaric?_ she asked distractedly.

_Researching._

_Slayers?_

_Good guess._

She sighed and wandered into the lounge room. She still had a hold of his hand and this made him smile.

_You want me to tell you what we talked about but I won't. Not yet. And as long as I keep it to myself there is no danger. She isn't here to hurt anybody. She came to see just me and that's all._

_That doesn't give me much, Elena. How can you trust that she won't cause problems - you've had a conversation with her. You don't know her._

_She is on our side, Stefan._

_She slays vampires, Elena. So yes, you're safe enough._

She stood back from him, the hurt quickly becoming anger._ You think that I would ever do anything to put you in danger. I...love you, Stefan. I know that things have been confusing...with Damon...but I will always love __**you**__._

He turned away from her. He loved her more than she would ever know and trusted her implicitly. But she didn't trust him. Not as she had before. Secrets. She had hated when he kept truths from her, but was now forced to do the same because of the gap that his actions had forged. Actions that he had undertaken to keep her safe and alive. Nothing was fair. Nothing would be as it had. And now the love of his life had been given a birth right, an offer to join the ranks of a slayer army. And she wouldn't even discuss it with him. Elaborate scheme or no, Elena had already been sucked in.

_Won't you look at me._

She had tears in her eyes, how he wanted to kiss them away.

_As long as Klaus and Elijah and the rest of them don't find out she is here, everything will be fine. She doesn't have any plans to stay long._ Which meant that her decision would have to be made that much faster.

Stefan stiffened a moment and shook it off. Wondering where Damon was and why he hadn't checked in. A part of him was enraged enough not to care at all and the other...

_Is there something you're not telling me?" _Elena's voice stung, cold as ice._ "I can see it on your face, what did you do?_

The evening's fruitless meeting came to mind but he was determined she not worry anymore.

_Elena..._

_Do they know?_

_She'll be fine. Damon's with her._

Her face dropped. _Stefan, she'll kill them!_


	4. Chapter 4

Damon lay across the bed, a mini bottle of vodka three quarters empty between his deft fingers. He was genuinely drunk now…and not alone. Across from him lay Buffy – nodding with both interest and concern. A gin bottle clutched to her chest.

…_I don't mean to brag or anything_, he hiccupped. _But of the two of us I am the better looking Brother. Stefan is just so…boring. I'm the fun one! _He was growing more and more passionate, liquor spilling all over the quilt cover.

_But she doesn't want me. She's stuck on Stefan. Boring ol' Stefan. I can be nice you know. I'm nice. You think I'm nice, don't you?_

_Of course I do! _Buffy extended a hand to him, patting his knee. The gin bottle poured out all over the floor, dispelling the serious nature of the conversation and making them both laugh. _Where were we? Oh, You are sweetness itself, Damon. _She gave him a watery grin and hugged him.

_Do you think Elena will come around?_

_Yes I do, you just have to show her how sweet you are, like now. _

Damon rolled over to place his head in the Slayer's lap. She began to stroke his raven locks, they were as soft as they looked. His eyes locked with hers.

_No-one gets me, _He sighed.

_They just don't know you yet. _

_Did any of those boyfriends figure you out? Your vampire harem. _

She smiled fondly at him now, he was so playful.

_They each got a piece._

_But never the whole pie?_

_Not so far. _

He sat up, drawing his face just inches from hers.

_How long before there are no pieces left to give?_

_I…I believe our drunken banter has reached that inevitable crossroads. We can either sleep together now or drink some more. _

_Do I get the whole pie?_

She caressed a hand down his cheek. _You wouldn't want it, _she smiled.

Damon found himself leaning into her hand.

_Is this what your brother had in mind when he asked you to keep an eye on me tonight?_

He shrugged. _There's no pleasing Stefan. But I think I got everything I need. _

_Always in your own way?_

_Always. _

Buffy crawled up the bed. Kicking off the sodden quilt she curled herself under the relatively dry sheets. _You remind me of someone, _she said dreamily. Damon climbed in beside her, relaxing her into his arms.

_One of the three?_

_Mmm, _she murmured. _Always doing as you please but somehow remaining unselfish…A champion. _

He shifted Buffy so that he could look into her eyes. _A champion? Have you been listening at all?_

_Yes. Goodnight, Damon. _She kissed his cheek and settled into his arms.

_Goodnight, Slayer. _

Stefan stood outside the hotel where he knew Buffy Summers to be staying. He lurked up and down the alleyways and street but all was peaceful. Damon still hadn't returned to the mansion nor checked in with himself or Alaric. But if he knew Damon, which he did, he was probably _occupied_. This did nothing to contribute to the negative portrait his mind had already painted of the Slayer...but Damon's reputation could take it. He buried his hands in his jacket pockets but he couldn't really feel the early morning cold. Elena's panicked tone echoed his mind...

_If you don't go, I will! _A chilling look of determination and anger in her eyes. She would get herself killed trying to be a 'slayer'.

_The Originals couldn't be more disinterested, Elena. They laughed in our faces. You can ask Alaric, it's the truth._

_Why would you go to them in the first place? You should have come to __**me. **_

_You weren't going to tell me a thing, I knew that. _

He could still see the way her lips had firmed into a hard line.

_You obviously don't care that this is important to me, so you can stay but I'm going. _

No. Of course he would go. He would hold vigil on the street until he knew that there was no danger to the Slayer _and _funnily enough to the Originals. He drew a deep breath and gave a hearty and dry laugh. Suddenly he was a protector of this diabolical family, his enemies. He couldn't bear it, it was so disgustingly ridiculous. As if they needed his help? Who was this Buffy, that Elena somehow thought her a danger to the oldest and most powerful supernatural family, possibly in the world?

As he fought to regain his composure, the sound of footsteps had him whirling around.

_I do love a good chuckle, would you mind letting me in on the joke? _Klaus approached Stefan, no, he slunk towards him in the same way a jungle cat stalks its prey. His hands were clasped behind his back good-naturedly but Stefan stopped laughing immediately.

_I don't know that you'd find it all that amusing, Klaus._

_Try me. _His lips curled up into a challenging smile.

Stefan imagined that if his heart were beating it might have run away but luckily for him, he wasn't so mortally inclined. The pair began to circle one another, Klaus' smile plastered tightly in place – the challenge forgotten.

_Is this the new "teen vampire" hang out? I hadn't been informed. _

_What are you doing here, Klaus? You're not worried about a certain Slayer recently blown into town?_

Klaus raised an eyebrow at the Salvatore's audacity. He should tear his head off, but they had been friends once. It just wouldn't do.

_So Elena has the Salvatore brother's playing watchdog. It seems Damon got the better end of the bargain._

Stefan heard the bitter way in which Klaus bit off the words and frowned internally.

_You'll not find __**me **__jealous, _Stefan smiled now. _I am somewhat confused though. You and your brothers made the Slayer sound like a joke. Are you here to play watch dog too or are you vying to play humble host? _Stefan examined his nails arrogantly. _If so, I think Damon may have beat you to __**it**__._

_Careful, Stefan or I'll have Elena awaiting your safe return until she's dead and buried. _

_Oh I'm not here to get in your way. Whatever it is that you came here to do, go right ahead. _They had stopped moving by this time and stood regarding each other with a hostility as potent as it was primordial.

_You wouldn't be up to something, would you Stefan?_

_No more than yourself._

They had been good friends. The best of friends. Brothers. The memories might have been hidden inside Stefan's mind and revealed once more, but he knew Klaus - beyond what any of the others could understand. He saw the flicker of anguish in his expression.

_Did she break your heart?_

For a fraction of a second. Perhaps even less. So fleeting was the moment - an incredible pain was evident. No human eye could have hoped to notice it, nor any vampire have known that Klaus was capable of **feeling**.

_Good. _

Stefan turned on his heel and walked slowly but confidently away from the hotel. He wouldn't go to Elena, he would go home. Stefan chanced a look over his shoulder where he caught sight of Klaus' figure. Disappearing into the night from which he'd come.

Elena writhed across the bed. The sheets twisted around her body, drenched in the sweat of a never-ending nightmare. She moaned. Panic trapped her inside the vision. There were men, black cloaked men. She didn't just see the swing of their arced swords but heard the whistle of metal and felt the burning sensation in her own stomach. She saw the faces of women she didn't know cringe in the same searing agony that consumed her. They flashed faster and faster through her vision until they became a blur. She awoke, screaming, with the lasting image of the Bringer's carved and unseeing eyes laughing into hers.

Alaric heard the screams and came rushing into the bedroom.

_Elena?_ Seeing that she was unharmed he exhaled a sigh of relief.

_I can feel them Ric. _She ran her hands over her stomach where she was sure she had been stabbed. The tears came long and hot. _I can feel their suffering, it's my suffering now too. I can feel all of it. _The sobs made it impossible for her to explain further and so she let herself fall apart while he looked on helplessly.

Elena passed the rest of the early morning hours at her window seat. She watched the horizon glow with the sun's rays and she watched the faces of the murdered slayers flicker past her again and again. They had been young and powerful women, her sisters. Each of them had died before their time, before they could fully grasp the importance of their existence. They had had a mission, a purpose. Buffy had talked about the First Evil, the battle that embroiled her hometown and the attempt to destroy the Slayer line. A quiet anger was beginning to hum on the fringes of her heart. Numerous attempts had been made on her life in the past few years, she had survived the car accident that claimed her parent's lives. Looking back, it seemed the world had laid down a great many obstacles that she wasn't supposed to survive. But she had. Slayers had perished in the struggle for good but they continued to fight and lay down their lives. She felt the pride in her heart – the great power that she now belonged to was...breathtaking. She had been waiting for it all along. How would she explain to her friends and her brother, this connection that had slept within her, how would she let them go?

There had been a text message waiting for her when she had so unceremoniously awoken. It was Stefan giving her the 'all-clear'. The message was short. Clipped. It stung with his hurt. She never intended to hurt anybody but in spite of this, there were only rare instances that her loved ones enjoyed happiness and security. She felt the responsibility for this bear down on her. They suffered because she couldn't be without the Salvatore Brothers. Either of them. Perhaps if she had not succumbed to her passions, if she had not been so selfish. She hadn't the courage to acknowledge the consequences of her actions – but if she had, then maybe things would be different. Infinitely changed. But would they be better?

She would still be a Petrova Doppelganger. Her blood would still be the key ingredient in the production of Klaus' hybrid army – she would have been long dead by now...

Elena snapped to attention, her macabre thoughts pushed the back of her mind with a knock at her bedroom door. Bonnie walked in cautiously, reading her best friends mood. She smiled her most understanding Bonnie smile.

_What's going on, Elena?_

_The hum-drum of the night club was other-worldly. The bass instilled in each eager human an energy more mystical than they would ever know. Women danced, teasing their partners and with a tantilising amount of soft, exposed flesh. Was it strange that of all places, he could feel his humanity __**here**__? Even his empty, unbeating heart was touched by the rhythm. The electricity. And the heat...All of it radiated from her. She ran her warm hands down his arms and back up them again to his face. Then she kissed him. Her lips were so soft, her taste filling him with a different kind of hunger. A feeling that began as a gentle burning flame. When the kiss ended, he could see in her forest green eyes that the same fire banked within her._

_She loved him._

_His strong arm came up to pirouette her gracefully across the dance floor. The people may have been bumper to bumper – the music loud and fast but her elegance was effortless and her enthusiasm wonderfully infectious. She swayed and pressed her back against his chest. He stood much taller than her, but he knew what power coursed those veins. It was like wildfire. He breathed in the scent of her golden locks as she tossed them to the beat. She was smiling, he could sense it. She spun back around to face him, leather pants clinging to her lithe frame, halter top keeping the same pace as the music. Her skin coloured the most delicious honey-brown from the Roman sun. She was smiling at him. It was because of __**him **__that she smiled. _


	5. Chapter 5

Kol roamed the mansion. He searched each room looking for his sister. Rebekah would tell him. That's if she knew. But she knew everything...then why hadn't she told him earlier! Anger charged his search. And annoyance at being left out of the loop made him almost frantic. He didn't call out though he was still relatively certain that Elijah had left the grounds to look for Klaus. Tailing them would have been pointless. They were adamant that he not be involved. Rebekah, on the other hand, still seething from Klaus' indelicate manhandling would surely impart the scandal. How wonderful to be able to make good use of his sister's vengeful mind. At least for now.

Buffy's eyes flickered open. It took her a moment to register her surroundings. Her senses were immediately assaulted by the strong, stale scent of alcohol. The sharp tightening in her skull indicated a blissfully dull hangover - a blessing - considering the amount of liquor she had consumed. Housekeeping would certainly have their work cut out for them today. What was perhaps most shocking was the sight of the beautiful, alabaster skinned vampire - fast asleep beside her with the early morning sun filtering over him. He'd taken his shirt off at some point, revealing a muscular back and powerful arms. But she could take him. She moved herself closer to him, resting her head on the pillow, the briefest of distances separating them. She watched him sleep peacefully - enjoying the warmth. Not bursting into flames and not a woeful pile of ashes. He looked so content and so young. His jet black hair was tousled boyishly over his face...what was it with her and vampires? She shook her head at herself internally but couldn't resist running her fingers through that hair again. She thought that after her previous relationship she would never be able to sympathise with the undead again. The thought made her pull away - she gave a surprised gasp when his hand caught her retreating fingers. With his eyes still closed he brought them to his lips and kissed them.  
"You smell...yummy..." he muttered sleepily.  
"Unfortunately for you, pie isn't on the breakfast menu," she retorted.  
Before she could blink he moved. It was like lightning. He pinned her body in place beneath him and quirked his mouth into that cheeky smile that almost made her want to let him bite her. His chest was perfect. And it really looked alabaster smooth. But she wasn't one to be trifled with.  
"I have a question for you," he said, his eyes tracing the contours of her face before meeting her eyes. Those damn eyes. Right now they didn't look quite so amused but he bet he could change that.  
"You couldn't ask this question without straddling me?" Her tone was playfully condescending. Oh she'd wipe that look off of his face.  
"Did you ever let any of the other...men...?"  
"No."  
Just as swiftly as he pinned her, she summoned a good measure of her own strength and tossed him sideways onto the floor. He rolled onto his back as she peered over the edge of the bed at him.  
"I'm not really a morning person," she said.

Klaus had watched the sun come up from the porch. Not his porch, but what Caroline Forbes did not know, would not harm her. And the last thing he would ever intentionally do is bring harm to her. He rested casually against the face of her house, his long denim clad legs stretched out. He could sense her, still asleep – safe in bed. Alone. This pleased him. It would have pleased him more to be the one lying beside her. Watching her sleep. Making her feel safe. But everything was presently – a mess.

Buffy Summers. Here.

The last time he had seen her...it was all so confusing. He had never stopped feeling but he couldn't even bring his mind to think of it. It was he who needed comfort right now.

Caroline didn't feel the covers move, nor the slight shift of weight on the bed. Her heightened senses did not pick up a thing, so soundly did she sleep. It made him smile. Klaus watched her for a time, drinking in her beauty – her peaches and cream complexion slightly flushed. And her crown of golden curls...so like hers...

But again, he refused to dwell on it and so he closed his eyes and drifted.

Klaus was startled awake at a high pitched shriek. He had slept?

_KLAUS! _

Caroline had backed herself to the window. She wore pale blue track pants and a yellow tank top. Her hair wasn't even mussed from sleeping. She was positively glorious! She stared down at him, horror struck and waiting for his explanation. But he just smiled at her, lazily.

_Come back to bed, Caroline. _He said sweetly.

_Are you __**out**__ of your __**original mind**_**? **She cried. _What the hell do you think you're doing in my bed, You... _She couldn't even get the words out, realising who she was verbally abusing and how quickly he could _end_ her. Klaus watched her bring a hand to her mouth. He was impressed with how quickly she regained her equilibrium.

_GET OUT! _She roared, her hand steady as she extended it to the door.

_Oh Caroline, have mercy...I've had a terrible night._

_Oh really? Well poor you. _She tossed her hair. _Honestly, you think you deserve my condolences after your crappy evening? After all you've done? After all you've put everyone through?_

He peeked up at her from beneath his lashes, his eyes earnest. He looked laughingly angelic. His own golden hair not helping the situation.

_Yes. _He couldn't help but smile then and he caught the twitch at the corner of her mouth.

_Well you can go be pathetic somewhere else, cause you are seriously creeping me out! How long have you been in here?_

_How can I leave when you're smiling at me like that?_

The words resonated deep within him. He had used them before and she saw the uncertainty cloud him for a moment. But only a moment.

She crossed her arms and remained still. His eyes were beseeching and twinkling with mischief all at the same time.

_This is weird,_ she said finally.

_Ugh_, he sighed, tossing himself back onto the pillow. _Why am I so odious to everybody?_

He heard the stifled giggle and turned back to Caroline.

_That is a very long list..._she continued to fight back the smile threatening her face. _I'm going to take a shower. You had better be gone when I get back or it's going to get ugly._

_Nothing about you could ever be unattractive,_ he crooned.

_OUT!_

She slammed the door behind her, leaving him grinning idiotically in her bedroom. He felt a little better.

Stefan was writing in his journal when Damon entered his bedroom.

_There you are, Brother. You can't imagine how surprised I was to not find you bunking with the Gilberts. _

_That's funny, because you __**can **__imagine how unsurprised I was that you made a bedfellow out of the vampire slayer, _Stefan muttered. He scribbled furiously without looking up.

_Snippy this morning. _He crossed the room to his brother's side. _Didn't you sleep well? _ His smile was teasing but Stefan was ready to back hand his fangs out.

Stefan shoved Damon aside. _Back off._

_Now that's down right cranky, Stefan. You're hurting my feelings. I slept remarkably well – in case you were wondering. _

Damon watched the rage undulate through his brothers' body. He also watched him suppress it. Always going against his nature, it was an admirable effort. He knew how annoying he could be.

_Aren't you going to ask me what I found out?_

_No Damon, I take it by your well rested presence that she's no threat to any of us. _He stalked to the overflowing bookcase that consumed the wall, shelving his current journal. Damon followed him downstairs. _He _was beginning to get annoyed with his brother's nonchalance. How dare he brush _him_ off.

_Have a fight with Elena? _ He asked as meekly as he could manage.

At the stiffening of his brother's back he knew he'd hit right on target.

_Come on, Stef. Just say you're sorry. You're good at that. _

Damon clapped him on the back and whistled his way to the front door – it opened when he reached it.

_Why Elena, as I live and breathe._

_You don't do either of those things, Damon, _the raven haired beauty retorted blankly.

Stefan hid his smirk and retreated out of sight. She could come to him this time.

_Well, I've had enough misdirected angst for one morning – your boyfriends sulking around somewhere. Enjoy! Oh and that Slayer friend of yours, sweet woman, _he winked and closed the door behind him. Perhaps _Alaric_ would be interested in what he had to say.

_Stefan? _Elena called. _Where are you?_

Rebekah wasn't anywhere to be found. The mansion was empty of her. The frustration was beginning to overwhelm Kol, it was very uncharacteristic of him. He could have sworn she had been home. He decided to try the mansion grounds before venturing into the town. He picked up her scent with immediate relief. He would find out what was going on before long!

The scent may have been strong but he was following it for what seemed like a lifetime. Lucky for him he had plenty to spare. She was clearly meandering through the outskirts of mystic falls with no apparent pursuit. When Kol caught up to his sister she had perched herself on a tree branch, her legs dangling innocently while she…sewed?

_If that isn't a sight, I don't know what is, _Kol remarked. His voice carrying just enough for her to hear.

She was swinging her legs happily. _What do you want, Kol?_

_Sewing, little sister? I wish I had a camera. Mum would be proud. _

_I highly doubt that, goodbye! _She said, effectively ending the brief conversation.

He hadn't wanted it to come to this. He shot an arm out and yanked her left leg.

_K_ol! She cried, plummeting to the earth. She managed to land on her feet unharmed but fuming.

_You sought me out to torment me, is that it? A thousand years and still an utter child! _She collected her sewing which had scattered and straightened, furiously. _You've ruined it!_

He rolled his eyes unsympathetically. _Will you hit pause on the drama, I need to ask you something._

He imagined this was one of those moments where had they been cartoon characters – steam would have fumed from his sister's ears. He took a step back.

_Now, Rebekah. I'll fix it. I just need you to tell me something. _

She took a step towards him. _What's the matter Kol, you look frightened all of a sudden? _She tossed the sewing away, it lay bedraggled at her booted feet.

Well, this isn't going well. At all.

_Buffy Summers, _Kol said quickly.

That had her pausing. She cocked her head and raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow at him.

_What do you know about Buffy Summers?_

_I was hoping you could tell me. Everything. _

It was her turn to roll her eyes at him. _Why didn't you just come out and ask me that in the first place? Sit! _She ordered. Rebekah unfolded the story before him.

_Stefan? _Elena repeated her call but there was no answer. She frowned. During her conversation with Buffy she had said that Elena possessed heightened abilities – such as the power to sense the supernatural…the unnatural. She may not have noticed them so much before but with training and concentration exercises these abilities were likely to become apparent rather quickly. It was all about patience. And listening. Especially listening.

_It can be difficult when all you want to do is just charge right on into something, Elena. I know that myself. One of the hardest lessons I learnt was to be perfectly still, to just be and listen. You would be surprised at not just what you hear but what you will feel. _

So that's what she did. She closed her eyes and stood perfectly still. She dropped her handbag to the floor and relaxed her muscles. From the alcove above, Stefan stepped slightly into view so that he could watch her. He wondered why she was doing yoga exercises over the threshold. Elena inhaled and exhaled deeply. Her stance shifted and she turned to face him, with eyes closed.

_Are you hiding from me up there? _ She opened her eyes and smiled brightly. She had done it!

_How did you…? _But he didn't finish the question so struck was he by the happiness that consumed her.

_We need to talk, _Elena said matter of factly,hurrying up to him.

_She often wondered at the cheesey title "The Immortal" – what the hell did that even mean? He was the only one? It made her laugh. But he let her call him Nick. Just Nick. Fair enough – her two previous vampire lovers hadn't had surnames either (not that they had chosen to disclose) so that wasn't any sort of surprise. He was exceptionally good looking, so tall and limber. There was so much of him that he might have been gangly had he not moved with such predatory grace. It was as though he was eternally on the hunt – but when he looked at her with those soft, angelic eyes she just knew that there was so much more to him. He was fun, he spoke of the magnificent places that he had been but never made her feel in any way inferior. He didn't want to lecture her about architecture, music, art, history, he wanted to show it all to her. Nick just wanted someone who was going to be there beside him, always – someone with whom he could share his many passions. In a lot of ways he was like a lost little boy, she sensed his family drama and his need to be loved. She also admired his strength and was amused by his arrogance that showed itself at the oddest times. What would have happened had she not chosen to settle in Rome? Would they have ever met? It deadened her heart to think otherwise. She was so in love with him. She wondered that she had ever made a half decent Slayer – her vampire suitors were beginning to cause a pile up…_


	6. Chapter 6

Stefan and Elena sat across his bed, talking. The day was moving into afternoon but still they spoke on and on. There was just so much to say.

_Bonnie says that she's going to look into it. The Slayer line and the history of it all. But she was supportive and she listened to me. _

_And you didn't think that I would be?_

_I don't know anymore, Stefan, everything between us has been so confused. I want to tell you these things but…what if it's all for nothing. You could just leave again. Leave me behind. _

She whispered the last words, staring at her hands in her lap.

Stefan tipped her chin so that she was looking at him. _You can tell me anything, _he said. _I am always listening, Elena. _

She raised her eyebrows at him and gave him a grim smile.

_I_ _overstepped my bounds earlier, Alaric and I shouldn't have gone to see Elijah but he did confirm for us the existence of Slayers. To be honest, he made them sound like hokey girl scouts…you should know, Elena. He bragged about how many he had killed. About how many the family has killed. _

Her hands fisted now and she clamped her jaw as if in pain.

_It's sport to them…_

_Enough, _Elena raised her hand, motioning for him to stop. How much of this was she supposed to bear? _Right now all I want to do is avoid a major catastrophe between Buffy and the Originals. I need to speak to her today and find some way of warning her off them. I hope I don't come off disrespectful._

_You're worried about offending her? _A smirk crossed Stefan's face and Elena swatted him with a pillow.

_What is so funny about that?_

_No, nothing. _He studied her for a few moments. _She really got to you, didn't she? _

_I don't know. Maybe I was…gotten…all along. All I know now is that I have a choice to make. But that will have to wait. If she isn't aware of the Mikaelsons and what they mean to the entire vampire population then things could go badly very soon._

Stefan nodded his agreement. He also wondered just how long it would be before Elena left _him_ behind.

_I should probably also tell you that Damon spoke to Buffy yesterday. Last night…And this morning._

Elena gaped at Stefan in horror.

_What is that supposed to mean?_

Kol limped back to the mansion. As the shadow of the towering edifice came to cast over him he stopped to realign his knee. He'd felt a little guilty about ruining Rebekah's sewing. It was to have been some sort of handkerchief…and she had been so forthcoming with the Slayer business. He thought it very diplomatic of him to allow her one free shot at him. Despite the pain, he was rather glad she had opted for his left knee cap.

But none of that was terribly important. Oh Niklaus, he thought. He couldn't even begin to comprehend the idiocy of his brother. The hilarity. The _scandal._ Klaus, a romantic? Klaus in love? It was all so wickedly delicious. And with a Slayer of all humans! He couldn't see Klaus or Elijah just now. His recent enlightenment was painted all over his face. Kol was however positively itching to get a look at the woman who had claimed his brother's heart. He wanted to meet the woman who set it to beating. Rebekah's words came back to him.

_Now, Big brother, I've given you exactly what you wanted. I give you leave to run wild with it…but you did __**not **__hear it from __**me**__. _

Kol wondered if he should have reported to Rebekah that the Slayer was in Mystic Falls but he wanted to make the excursion alone.

Buffy paced the hotel room. The carpet was sure to be worn down to the floorboards beneath – but she was worried. She hadn't inquired about the Mikaelsons to Damon. Considering vampires roamed the daylight hours here, perhaps the newly established family were a dead end? She couldn't take the chance. She needed to speak to Willow first. The Slayer found herself wishing that her best friend were there. Xander too. And Dawn. Her little sister had blossomed in Rome and her heart warmed with pride.

That morning, before Damon departed she had felt some sort of mental probe reach out from him. It was the talisman that she wore underneath her clothes, religiously, that brought his compulsion to her attention. It not only protected her from the effects of mental intrusion but made her frighteningly aware of them. She watched the flicker of annoyance pass over Damon's face. He would be suspicious now, but what his reasoning led him to conjure up. She couldn't know. Had his compulsion been successful, she was sure that he would have pumped her for information but as it was, she had been surprisingly upfront with him. With but one exception. The hauntingly beautiful vampire hardly need rely on his vampire mind games to charm a person. She felt an unflinching sympathy toward the female population at that moment. It was Dracula all over again, but that had turned out alright in the end!

She shifted the leather jacket over her shoulders – too impatient to wait any longer. The phone was refusing to ring! So she decided it was time she investigated the oh so mysterious Mikaelson Manor. The family on everyone's lips. She pressed a grateful hand to her chest where she could feel the protective pendant. _He_ had given it to her so that she would forever remain safe up against the mind control of other vampires. She imagined it served as protection from him at times as well. Nick had been far too used to getting his own way when she first met him. It had made her laugh once. His childish stubbornness. But the fond associations were long behind her.

Alaric stood at the Gilbert's sink washing up. Even in Jenna's absence the house had managed to become a home for him.

Jenna. He seemed doomed to fall in love with the doomed. But that was a cold thought. His heart had been broken, yes. It had been torn to shreds with the most merciless of hands but then again – he wouldn't change the love that his tortured heart had felt. Not for anything.

He really did love Jeremy and Elena as if they were his own children. So much so, that he had felt the deep pangs of loss when Elena had sent Jeremy to live in Denver. At least the distance would not only ensure his safety but a relatively normal adolescence.

_Are you listening?_ Damon asked impatiently. _ Give a vampire a break over here, no one seems interested in the Slayer anymore. She can't be old news already!_

Ric shook his head, drying off his hands.

_I'm listening…and I'm surprised you're still interested, seeing as you got what you wanted out of her. _

Alaric's steely smile only made Damon chuckle.

_I'm an old fashioned sort of guy, or hadn't you noticed? Okay, enough cute stuff._

_Let's hear it._

_Well, I think her story checks out, _Damon said succinctly. _Mhmm. She's only here to fulfil her duties as Slayer and mentor or whatever_. Damon suddenly had an idea…the less shared the better.

_So that's what I have to report. _ He stood up a little too eagerly and made his way back down the hall.

_Damon! _Ric shouted, exasperated. _What do you mean that's all? You were with her all night!_

_I'm a gentleman Ric, I don't kiss and tell. Don't wait up now. _He tossed over his shoulder and departed into the blazing Mystic Falls afternoon. Buffy Summers was holding out on him. Big time. And if he was wrong then…at least he would get to see her again.

Kol had thought that settling in a small town would be boring. Downright dull in fact. But it certainly made locating someone easier. He stepped into the town square, denim clad, a crisp collared shirt and military style jacket. Women and girls turned their heads with appreciative smiles crossing their faces. He sent a few teasing winks their way and laughed at the answering blushes. Can't afford to get side tracked just now. The Slayer could only be staying at the Mystic Falls hotel. He picked up the pace while trying to maintain a believable human speed. Small towns were really only good for one thing.

Scandals.

They spread like wildfire…He was licking his lips with the anticipation.

Tyler Lockwood pinned the woman against the alleyway wall. She wasn't so attractive which didn't make him feel all that bad…but he would compel her afterwards anyway. What she couldn't remember wouldn't hurt her. Much. She screamed and the animal in him rejoiced at her fear. His eyes soothed her into a pliable silence so that she didn't so much as hold her breath when his eyes clouded over, the veins bubbled, and those mythical fangs sunk into her throat.

Across the street Buffy heard the helpless shriek of a young woman. She ran and reached into the back of her jeans where her stake rested familiarly. Vampires and sunlight. It was madness.

Caroline tapped her nails impatiently. Tyler had disappeared into the bathroom of the Mystic Grill fifteen minutes ago! She had felt so guilty about her morning that she had wanted to come clean about her Klaus encounter. But his disappearance was making her lose her nerve! The cry from outside dispelled the image of Klaus' long, muscled body lying so comfortably in her bed. She ran out onto the street.

Klaus had finally decided that it was time to visit at home. He didn't wonder what his siblings had been up to. He was hoping to be alone to draw and brood over what was to be done about Buffy. Just as if his thoughts had spontaneously conjured the Slayer up, he saw her, exactly as she had been in Rome – her feet pounding the pavement in the direction of the Grill. He recognised the determined expression on her face. He made chase.

Kol stopped at the edge of the square. He saw Klaus first. Then he saw the beautiful, loping figure that he was running after. He circled around and climbed to the roof of the Grill where he could have a better view of the proceedings.


	7. Chapter 7

_Hey!_ Buffy shouted. _No snacking on my watch, pal. _

Tyler turned to address the woman's voice he heard behind him. He sneered and shoved the girl away. He could sense the power in the Slayer. He also wasn't quite satisfied and mockingly wiped the blood around his mouth across the back of his arm.

She noted his dark, disfigured face. The last time she'd seen that type of vampire transformation had been on Nick. But she wasn't flustered. He charged her first and she dodged to the side, grabbing him as he passed, she threw him.

_Run!_ She said to the girl. _Now._

Tyler caught her from behind and they sprawled onto the ground. Buffy kicked herself back onto her feet while he landed a swift punch that she blocked. Another woman's voice boomed down the alley.

_Tyler! _ The voice cried. It was Buffy's turn to meet the new participant. Caroline regarded her warily, her face transforming as she charged.

_Really? _Buffy said. The agitation leaking into her voice. _You can __**all **__walk in the daylight? _She placed her hands on her hips and moved them to the base of her jacket, retrieving the stake. _What is it with this place, something in the blood. Get it?_

Tyler and Caroline both bounded at her, she kicked Tyler and grabbed him before he could fall backwards. With a graceful move, she threw him into Caroline. The pair of them crumbling to the ground. They were up again quickly and circling on either side of her. She turned to meet the blonde's attack first.

_Caroline! _Was all Tyler managed to shout. He was yanked back by Klaus. He looked into the pup's face. His expression like stone.

_Get out of here,_ he said smoothly. He watched Tyler's retreating back until he knew he was out of the way and turned his attention into the alley once more.

Buffy hadn't noticed his presence yet, she was too busy pummelling Caroline who was quite admirably managing to hold her own. He couldn't stop himself when he saw the flicker of the stake.

_STOP! _His voice consumed the alley. It ricocheted the walls and startled both women.

_You, _Buffy said. Seeing the look in his eyes she twisted Caroline into her grip and held the stake over her heart. He stiffened further and she guided the stake closer. Klaus slowly walked over to them. Caroline's eyes followed him while Buffy's burned into his. The daylight. Of course he could walk in the daylight as well. He had never told her that.

_You don't have to do that. She's harmless, _his words were matter of fact but his face serious. When she didn't let go he walked closer still.

_She has nothing to do with it. Let her go, please. _

_Her friend was feeding on a young girl. And you say __**she **__is harmless?_

_Yes. _His tone was final and Buffy knew it. He also seemed to have strong feelings for the blonde vampire. Buffy let her go and the stake disappeared.

_Who are you? _Caroline said. Her body aching from the Slayer's grip.

_You don't need to be here anymore, Caroline. _Klaus said by way of answer.

_Do you know each other?_

Buffy almost smirked. Did they know each other?

* * *

_And just as Klaus imagined the red sea parted for Moses, it seemed the rest of the human and demonic population fell away and there was just her. He had bought the nightclub, taken up as host. Given himself a new name, title. The Immortal. At the time he hadn't wanted to be known by anyone. And as it happened, nobody wanted to know him. Nobody of interest anyway. He was very much alone with his mysterious title and bounty of power. His siblings boxed up and out of the way so that they could never leave him. But he was still alone. Her gaze flickered up from the lively conversation taking place at the table, her spring-green eyes locked with his as he walked by. Her eyes told him that she knew exactly what he was. And that she didn't mind so much. He hadn't meant to look over his shoulder, he didn't have to invite the attention – women gravitated to him all the time. He felt something inside of him drop upon seeing that she was fixed with her back to him, without so much as a backward glance. He was furious. _

* * *

Buffy swung an elbow his way which he blocked but he felt her strength reverberate up his whole arm. A thousand years of age perhaps, but this woman had the strength of a thousand lifetimes of Slayers running through her blood. It filled him with wonder to be so evenly matched. There was no such feeling in her face as she threw punch after kick after blow at him. He blocked them all but heard Caroline's gasp behind him. It must have been quite a show. In a moment of distraction Buffy spun at him, delivering a crushing kick, he was pushed back a few paces and horrified to see Caroline run back into the fray. For god sake, he'd never met a vampire in such dire need of rescue!

_Out of the way, Caroline! _He ordered, his tone soft but authoritative. It was menacing enough to make her back away. But she didn't know what was going on! The woman was too strong. And human!

They began to circle each other, Buffy with a resumed fighting stance and Klaus with his hands by his side. Eyes locked on one another. Hungry as ever.

* * *

_He had a fixed tab_le_ that he occupied, the usual body guards and sycophants wandering the perimeter. A few standing nearby. They weren't a necessity, he could handle himself, but such an entourage demanded respect and warded off the riff raff. It was often women who approached, sometimes they begged for a dance and other times they would join him for a __**drink.**__ It was during another evening, some weeks after he had first seen Buffy, that she daringly approached him. She had swagger. That's what it was called in the twenty first century, right? She also had an irritated expression plastered to her face. _

"_Your boys make you very unapproachable you know."_

_At the look of amusement on his face her expression softened. _

"_Now that you have breached my perimeter, is there something you would like? To sit perhaps. A drink?" His eyebrow quirked suggestively prompting a luxurious laugh from the golden goddess standing before him._

"_You could try." _

_He stood, ready to pull her into the seat beside him and was thoroughly unprepared for the hand that pushed him, none to gently, back into his own. His eyes clouded. What is she? Not a vampire. He had other ways of bending her to his will but he was too captivated by her self-assurance. And then she flashed a mischievous smile at him and he thought he would collapse. _

* * *

Buffy delivered a crunching blow to Klaus' jaw. Her fury heightening with each second. He staggered and ran at her.

_Caroline, _he shouted. _Get out of here, please. _

_No, if you die…_

_Caroline! _He roared.

_No! _She cried in response. Then she turned and fled. Klaus had sent Tyler away but she had to get help. Otherwise…

_Do you feel any better? _Klaus asked amidst the fight. He clasped her ankle and tossed her into the opposing wall where she got up without so much as brushing herself off.

_Feel better? _

_You've caught up to me, this is what you wanted. _

She wanted to stop dead and stare at him with her most incredulous glare but her fists continued to make contact instead.

_You think this makes it okay? You think this makes up for what you did? _She shoved him and pulled the stake from her jeans where she had sheathed it. _Nothing will make it okay, Nick or Klaus or the Immortal or whoever the hell you are. _

He eyed the stake.

_You recall of course what I promised I would do if I ever caught up with you? _She asked.

_I do. _

_Ready?_

* * *

"_Ready?" Buffy bounced before him. All energy and electricity. _

_He shook his head, uncertain and she chuckled. The club was closed. Daylight bloomed out of doors and he had decided to keep up the charade of not being able to go out. In the same way she withheld her true identity as the Slayer. So, in the empty club, with blinds pulled down and disco lights flickering – the two of them pretended it was night and Buffy began the dancing lesson. _

"_You are old, aren't you?" She teased. "So stuffy and stiff. This isn't ballroom dancing – it's __**dirty**__ dancing!"_

"_**Dirty?" **__He bit off distastefully. _

_She hit the remote so that a simple but palpitating dance beat filled the room. _

"_No, not like that – you know, Patrick Swayze?" _

_She met his befuddled look with a sympathetic smile. _

"_Okay, forget Patrick Swayze….we'll move onto movies later."_

_She came to stand in front of him and laced her hands lightly around his neck. _

"_Like this," she whispered and began to gently guide him to the rhythm of the music. "See, it's easy…you can put your arms around my back, it's alright. Actually. It's recommended."_

* * *

Klaus' back struck the alley wall, garbage bins spilled and rolled but he remained standing. Buffy's locks swirled all around her as she made for him. She was exceptional. So honourable. So duty bound and yet wild with feeling. Alight with fire. He could feel everything as he had before. He never stopped loving this woman. She was still his. But he didn't see love in her eyes anymore. Only the kill. And he had only himself to forever place the blame upon for that look. He punched her hard and she reciprocated. He could see tears in her eyes but the fight continued. Hard and violent. He had spent too long avoiding his feelings and now they were exploding all around him like a force of nature. But then, he loved Caroline. At least he thought he did. He wondered if he was kidding himself there too, she was hung up on that child, Tyler. If he died then Tyler died too. Is that all that mattered to her?

The silence was becoming too suffocating and Buffy broke it with something other than harsh breathing and the sounds of arms and legs connecting with flesh.

_She's already got a boyfriend._

She had always managed to read his unreadable expressions.

_I thought I'd still give it a go._

_Well now you won't have to. _

_If you think I'm not walking away from this then you're wrong._

_You'll run again?_

Klaus caught her elbow and pulled the Slayer into his chest. She struggled against him and he bent to whisper in her ear.

_The daylight, the compulsion…I have many secrets. You'll not kill me so easily. _

His breath was so soft against her skin, tickling but mocking. She threw herself backwards so that she toppled onto him. She knelt and thrust the stake into his heart. The air just before his heart. Arms were around her and dragging her off of him.

Klaus watched Damon struggle against her strength, he watched her hurl Damon onto the street but made sure that when she turned back for him, she was met with an empty and somewhat beaten up alleyway.

* * *

"_A Slayer?" Klaus asked, his eyes wide._

"_No. __**The**__ Slayer," she looked at him across the table. Her eyes imploring. The restaurant was intimate, muted with polite conversation, low candle light and teasing floral scents. _

"_I take it you know what a Slayer is then." _

_He nodded, not quite able to meet her eyes. Instead he saw her hands reach across to twine with his. _

"_I know this changes…everything…but I've never been anything but honest with you, Nick. I had to wait for the right time to give this last piece."_

_Still, he didn't look up. It __**did **__change everything. _

"_At least tell me that you refuse to talk to me ever again!" _

_He looked up now into her shining eyes. _

"_You're __**The**__ Slayer," he said finally. _

_Buffy nodded. Relieved that he was not ignoring her. He brought her hands to his lips and kissed them. He felt the strong pulse at her wrist. He wanted to taste her. But she needed protecting. From him especially. Now more than ever. Imagine him, finally falling in love and with a Slayer? No. The Slayer. He unclasped one of his hands from hers and reached into his blazer pocket. She studied the small, carved box that he placed on the table before her. It was beautifully arranged. The wood was old and dark. Within its hollows it glowed with jewels. She was mesmerised by it._

"_What?..."_

"_Open it," his smile was reassuring._

_He released her hands and she ran her fingertips over it. She couldn't see how she was supposed to open it and heard him smiling across the table._

"_Like this." _

_She didn't know how he did it but one of his hands clasped the top of the box and the other the bottom – then he twisted and it pulled a part. There in folds of white silk sat a necklace. A pendant. A talisman. She didn't know what word described it best._

"_It doesn't change anything," he said. "But you will be needing this now more than ever." He lifted the necklace so that it's chain spilled onto her hand first. It was gold, the chain was long and fine. It's pendant held what looked like a sun, its rays were cut carefully and intricately into the gold. Small vary coloured jewels peppered it's surface and it was inscribed in a language she could not read. She turned it over and carved so finely into the gold that it did not pass to the other side was an eye._

"_I'll never take it off," she whispered. Her voice catching._


	8. Chapter 8

Damon couldn't see Buffy's face. Her legs seemed locked in place, her entire body frozen. The alleyway was empty. Some bricks had come loose during the fight. The usual rubble and destruction of public property was no big deal. A few overturned trashcans with their contents spilling out hardly warranted concern either. Had it only been a few moments ago that she was poised to kill him? She'd felt his iron-strong flesh beneath her, the soft breath of his voice against her cheek. Her body felt tender from the blows he'd landed, it would perhaps even be purpled with bruises. Had she not been ready? Had she not been waiting for this day for over a year?

Avenge them.

She had meant to. She had tried and nearly succeeded. But her efforts were thwarted. And once again Nick had fled.

A few moments ago these alley walls had echoed with the grunts and gasps of battle. The nauseating sounds of bodies being beaten, flesh ripping and bones crunching. Buffy flexed her knuckles and the pain radiated up her arm. Fighting Nick was like attacking a punching bag made of steel. Her mind twisted in confusion. It was all very real but she felt so woefully far away. Had it only been a few moments ago?

Damon was getting to his feet behind her, muttering to himself about the pleasantries of being a hero.

"_I'd prefer it if you stayed down actually,"_ Buffy said. Knocking him flat on his back again she placed a booted foot onto his chest. She dug her heel into him.

"_Right here?"_ He quirked an eyebrow at her. _"I'm game."_

She pushed her heel deeper, her expression darkening

"_What the hell is wrong with you? Do you know who you just let go?_

"_So you know Klaus? I had a feeling there was more to your visit than you were letting on."_

"_He's a monster."_

"_Aren't we all."_

"_I should stake you, you damned idiot."_

Her breathing was ragged, whether from adrenaline or the fury that now coursed her veins – she just couldn't tell.

Vampires. When had they become so emotionally developed? Why had she never been the kind of slayer to merely loathe them? Instead she stopped to listen. She waited on judgement. This quiet reflection was not lost on Damon who did not even struggle under her grip, but lay watching her.

"_You can't just blow into town and kill whoever you please," _Damon said disapprovingly.

"_A little hypocritical don't you think, Damon?" _A male voice spoke up from behind them.

Buffy didn't recognise it but was very interested in the way Damon dramatically splayed his arms out onto the ground, emitting a lengthy sigh.

"_Brother,"_ he muttered. _"It's impolite to interrupt adults."_

Buffy removed her foot so that she could study her latest vampire acquaintance. This town was crawling with them. Families of them. And this one just so happened to be Elena's other half. Sort of.

"_You're one to talk,"_ Buffy bit off.

Stefan smirked.

This woman was very beautiful. He could see the same strength that he so admired in Elena's eyes burned with equal fervour in the Slayers. Or perhaps that was her temper currently directed at Damon. Those eyes made a quick study of him as Stefan extended a hand.

"_It's nice to finally meet you," _he said sincerely.

The fact that she could so vastly see the difference between the two men made it obvious that they were brothers. Stefan was as softly and politely spoken as Damon was arrogant and crass. Two ends of the spectrum. Buffy couldn't be trusted with so many good looking vampires around. She should really travel with a roadblock and hazard lights. Stefan stood only a little taller than She but his presence was quietly powerful. He had the look of a man who indulged in a good brood, she knew that type all too well. Considerate eyes and the kind of dark, pointy hair that Spike would have mocked into oblivion.

"_You too,_" She managed to respond.

"_You've had a real effect on someone very dear to me. I'm curious to see if you'll live up to the hype."_

"_He means me of course. Love you too, Stef," _Damon said sweetly.

Stefan's answering glare made Damon chuckle and Buffy frown. Vampire brothers warring over a Slayer's heart. Finally. A doomed love story to rival her own.

"_You'll have to excuse my brother. Or not. It's entirely up to you," _He smiled at her but his expression quickly turned serious.

"_What's going on? Is everyone okay?" _Elena came sprinting down the alleyway toward the three of them. She looked around. _"Where's Klaus?" _

Buffy's body stiffened imperceptibly. If only Elena could know what kind of horrific monster he was. The things he had done. Why was he being so closely protected? What didn't she know?

"_Klaus ran. Nobody's dead," _Stefan spoke up first.

"_He tells jokes," _Damon laughed. He nudged Buffy with his elbow. _"I think he's trying to impress you."_

"_Can't you ever be serious, Damon? Klaus dying would not be funny."_

"_I think I'd rather enjoy it, actually," _Buffy couldn't suppress the menacing glare any longer. She regarded each of them in turn. _"Would someone like to explain to me why you are harbouring a malicious killer?" _Her voice threatened to break but she kept it steady.

Damon wasn't ready to admit that he had stood back and watched the fight for some time before intervening. He had heard snatches of conversation and marvelled at the Slayer's strength and speed. He could never have suspected that the reason Miss Summers had blown into town was to kill Klaus. Well, it wasn't so far-fetched. But they were exes. And the break-up had been particularly ill-handled. That was something he never could have dreamed up! Did that mean that she had used the excuse of recruiting Elena as a cover? Had she concocted the entire story for her own selfish ends? Well that was all very well and good. Damon believed whole-heartedly in looking out for number one. But not where Elena was concerned. He would need time to think. And brood. People never gave him enough credit for all the brooding he did.

"_You don't know," _Elena said it as a statement. The Slayer doesn't know who the Mikaelsons are.

"_What don't I know? _

"_Elena, we don't need to have this discussion here. Let's go back to the mansion."_

"_No, I'm not going anywhere until I get some answers," _Buffy folded her arms. _"Both you and your brother rushed on over to keep me from killing him. You know I can take him and I will unless someone gives me a reason not to. But I warn you it had better be a __**damn **__good reason. And you had better start talking. __**Now**__."_

Elena looked at Damon, his eyes hardening for a moment and then looked to Stefan. His smile was grim but encouraging. Yes, she knew the kind of evil that Klaus had done because he had done it to her. She wondered how Buffy had come to know him and what he had done to _her_. Whatever it was. It had been personal.

"_Klaus belongs to the Original family of vampires. The Mikaelsons." _ Elena's mind passed over each of the Mikaelson siblings in turn as she detailed them to Buffy. She explained how Esther had created them. All the while she watched Buffy. Her frown deepening as the _actual_ facts of Vampire origin were unfolded.

"_So you see if you killed Klaus then all of the vampires he had made, and those made from them would die as well," _Elena finished the statement slowly and solemnly.

All three of them were watching Buffy now. She cast her face to the clear blue sky above. Her thoughts were abuzz with the ramifications of this knowledge.

"_And if the entire Mikaelson family were destroyed then that would be the end of vampires. All vampires."_

Stefan cast Damon a very wary look all of a sudden. They had just given _the _Vampire Slayer the key to killing them all. Stefan's face begged the question – Just what would she do with it? Damon smiled back at him, unperturbed. He very discreetly tipped his head, Stefan's eyes followed the direction in which he was so subtly gesturing, to the alley floor. Buffy's stake was quite discarded and clearly carved from very ordinary wood. She could hardly do any slaying with the wrong weaponry.

Caroline was becoming exceedingly suspicious. Stefan hadn't even been surprised when she had burst in. Neither was Elena. They knew who the woman was that she described immediately but wouldn't even take a moment to explain any of it to her! She had wanted to return to the alley with Stefan but he had brushed her off. Elena had rushed to her car while Stefan ran on ahead. There were too many secrets as usual. Sure, she had secrets of her own but waking up with Klaus in her bed wasn't _so_ catastrophic as some blonde bimbo nearly killing him. And what if she had?

Tyler.

She dialled his number and took off to a run so fast that she disappeared.

"_Well, now that we've had this nice little chat…we can get going," _Damon clapped his hands together signalling the end of the discussion.

"_It's hardly the whole story though – and I want to be completely honest with you,"_ Elena said to Buffy. _"I need you to understand all of it."_

"_I don't believe this," _Buffy was mystified. The alley seemed to fall out of focus, the voices slipping into the background. What did this mean? If she were to take a stake to each of the Mikaelsons then she could rid the world of one of its greatest evils. She could slay them all. That meant Spike. And Angel. She couldn't think about it now – somehow it didn't make sense. Could it have been this simple all along?

"_There's more –"_

"_Elena, Let's go." _Stefan's voice was commanding. He didn't want her handing over the final piece of the puzzle just yet. Not until he knew that Buffy could be trusted with it.

"_Stefan's right. We can continue all of this at the mansion. Why are we standing around in this stinking alleyway?" _He made to leave while Stefan tried to guide Elena away. They heard the swoop of clothing and all four of them looked up. Kol Mikaelson seemed to float from the Grill's rooftop as he descended toward them. He dispatched Stefan with a backhanded blow that knocked both him and Elena into the alley wall. Damon stepped in immediately but it was Buffy who yanked him out of her way. Her punches met their target a little too easily. Kol had waited around long enough. He had heard everything and his curiousity had erupted around him like a volcano. He wanted to find out just how powerful this Slayer was. He wanted to know what made her so different, so special. Most importantly, He wanted to know why Niklaus had chosen her.

Buffy's knuckles were in agony as they connected with Kol's jaw. She had known it from the first blow – she was up against another Mikaelson. A sibling of Nicks. What she didn't anticipate was Kol's arm coming around her neck and her oxygen being cut off. Then he was running with her in his arms while the world went dark. Kidnapped. She couldn't remember the last time that had happened.

"_Wake up,"_ Damon slapped his brother's cheek. _"This really isn't the time for a nap."_

"_Kol broke his neck, he'll need some time,"_ Elena's tone was grim. "W_here do you think he has taken her?"_

"_Not so much worried about the __**where**__ as I am about the __**why**__, Elena." _Damon scooped Stefan into his arms and wandered down the alley, back into the light and life of the town. People eyed him curiously as he stuffed his rag doll brother into the back of Elena's car. She had driven over knowing that there was no way she could have kept up with Stefan. That and she refused to be carried.

Damon opened Elena's door for her and she leaned on it before stepping in.

"_Damon, what's he going to do to her?" _She hadn't meant for her voice to crack but it did. Damon tipped her chin up so that he could look straight into her eyes.

"_I'll kill him myself before I let anything happen to her, I promise. Now get in the car." _Damon dialled Alaric as he floored the engine and sped back to the mansion. He wasn't going to drag Stefan's lifeless body around until he woke up. But he would have to make a stop to pick up the rogue vampire hunter so that the three of them could make a quick visit to the Mikaelson family. This time, Damon would get some real answers.

"_What do you mean you don't know where he is?" _Damon threw his arms up in fury while Alaric seethed.

Rebekah Mikaelson regarded Damon Salvatore with folded arms and a disdainful look.

"_You know, I always figured you for some kind of simpleton. You're far too good looking to have a single active brain-cell in your head."_

"_Could say the same for you toots."_

"_Would you like me to rip your throat out?" _She took a step over the entryway and into the afternoon that was quickly entering the twilight hour.

"_Look, we don't have time for this," _Elena pushed herself in front of Damon and slapped Alaric's hand away. _"If not Kol, then do you know where Klaus is?"_

"_I have not seen Niklaus today, not that it is any of your business," _Rebekah bit off the words.

"_Well. Some great help you've been. Any adults home, tiny?" _ Damon said sarcastically. Rebekah lunged at him and the pair began a wrestling match across the Mikaelson's front lawn.

"_Should we try and break that up?" _Ric asked Elena.

"_That won't be necessary," _Elijah's voice answered from behind them. He was walking down the hallway while adjusting the cuff of his sleeve. He smiled almost pleasantly. _"Rebekah is right. Niklaus has not been home today and as for Kol, well, one can hardly know the whereabouts of a teenage brother every second of every day."_

_"Your teenage brother is a thousand years old,"_ Elena pointed out.

"_You don't know how much I wish that had some bearing over his level of maturity. _

"_I guess we can relate,"_ Elena threw a glance over her shoulder to where Damon and Rebekah continued the struggle.

"_They'll tire themselves out," _Elijah muttered. _"Should I be curious as to why you're looking for my brothers? No trouble, I hope."_

"_Your __**Brother **__has kidnapped the Slayer," _Ric smiled pointedly at Elijah. _"And we don't mean Klaus."_

Elijah's perfectly carved brow creased for a moment, such an expression may have marred any other beings beauty but somehow it only made him more attractive.

"_If you'll kindly cease throttling Mr Salvatore, Rebekah, there are more pressing matters at hand."_

Elena fisted her hands by her sides. If even Elijah found the current situation _pressing _then…perhaps she wasn't worrying enough.

Rebekah straightened her dress as she climbed off of Damon. Though her glorious locks were mussed and she had lost her shoes in the tussle, she maintained a terrifyingly dignified expression until she was by Elijah's side.

"_What's one more Slayer, Elijah?" _Rebekah asked, draping an arm casually over her brother's shoulder.

Elena's nails began to dig into her palm. Damon reached for her hand, carefully clutching it in his own. The gesture was not lost on Alaric but his expression remained unreadable.

Elijah had no such desire to lay bare his brother's heart. His hopeless devotion to the Slayer was not up for discussion. But apparently his sister had held no such reservations.

"_If I were you, Little sister, I would be doing my very best to find Kol. Should he step over the line he will be needing a scapegoat. Where better to lay blame than on the very person who could not keep her mouth shut to begin with?" _

Rebekah's mouth moved into a thin line. She was quite cornered.

"_We should split up."_


	9. Chapter 9

Buffy awoke to a very familiar scent. Blood. Her blood. She couldn't quite lift her head and it lolled to the side. When she opened her eyes they were greeted with the sights of nature. A forest floor heavy with dirt, littered with leaves and moss. Had the smell of blood not been so overwhelming she might have enjoyed the clarity that the scents of the outdoors had to offer. But there was only confusion. She was disoriented. And terribly weak. Drained. She felt drained. She was afraid she would slip into unconsciousness once more but her senses were alive with pain now. Her wrists were bound so tightly around the girth of a tree that she all but heard her tendons shrieking. Her back was painfully stiff against its hollowed texture. There was a throbbing pain in her head from the oxygen that had so been so ruthlessly denied her. And then there was that other familiar sensation. The burning in her neck. The stinging almost ringing feeling that vibrated her entire body when she sought to lift her head. No. No, no, no. The blood was still warm. Still wet. It dripped down over her collarbone. Her blood. Her necklace was gone.

* * *

For a few sweet moments Buffy believed she had been abandoned by her attacker. The forest was quiet. Too quiet. As though even its inhabitants had fled or gone into hiding. Animals can do that, sense the unnatural. It all comes down to instinct. Wishful thinking didn't really belong in this scenario. Her instincts told her she was being watched. Her suffering was to be the entertainment and her blood the refreshments. Kol Mikaelson would show himself sooner or later, in the meantime she took stock of his infractions. He had suffocated her, kidnapped her, taken her protective charm, fed off of her…and at any time there was likely to be some sort of big finish. It all depended on how much he wanted to hurt Nick. None of this was about her. It couldn't be. He didn't know her. He knew slayers but it wasn't the same. She shuddered to think what else might be in store for her should she not be able to escape. She would have to kill him. But the compulsion. She was entirely at his mercy. She missed Sunnydale. The vampires had been a lot easier to kill. Movement to her right had her eyes flickering to meet Kol's. He managed to pull off a boyish grin with her blood gathering at the corners of his mouth.

"_At last you're awake."_

"_My apologies for keeping you waiting,"_ her voiced sounded strange to her. It hurt to speak.

"_No apologies necessary. I could watch you sleep for an eternity."_

"_You're disgusting."_

"_You're right, where are my manners? Miss Summers I would like to introduce myself – I'm Kol Mikaelson," _He extended a hand to her as though they would shake. _"I believe you're acquainted with my brother, Niklaus."_

Kol, Buffy mused. The youngest of the Mikaelson males. He was attractive with his dark hair, dark eyes. What is it with vampires and dark eyes? And there was a particularly sweet dent in his chin. How was it that such seemingly innocent faces masked such malevolent beings?

"_I can't say I'm as enthused to meet you, nor would I take that hand even if I weren't tied up."_

His smile slowly began to change into something more menacing. He stepped closer, his eyes locking with hers. She could feel it beginning. The steady and calming hypnosis. She tore her eyes from his and shut them. Don't look into those eyes. You'll be trapped forever.

He was laughing now. Laughing in big rolling waves. She opened her left eye the better to peer at him in alarm. Kol was hugging himself as though his sides would split open.

"_If you're having some sort of hysterical episode…do you think you could move it along?"_

"_You'll have to excuse me Miss Summers, I haven't had a slayer cower before me in some time…Let alone screw her eyes closed in fright."_

Buffy felt insult and rage boil her veins. The pain coursing her body shifted to the far reaches of her mind.

"_Untie me, I'll show you frightening."_

His laughter ceased but his smile didn't fade.

"_As amusing as that sounds, I rather like you this way. You're quite tasty. But then I'm not the first to taste you."_

Had her hands been free she might have reached for her neck.

"_Would it be indecorous of me to ask who gave you those scars?"_

Angel. She had saved his life and he had almost drained hers. He was the only Vampire she had ever willingly given her blood to. Judging by Kol's expression, he was expecting that Nick had been the one.

"_No more __**indecorous **__than you've already been. But I suppose that is to be expected of a younger sibling. Trying to prove something, Kol? The big boys not taking you seriously?"_

"_Try as you might, you will not bait me, Miss Summers."_

"_Just making an observation."_

"_I wonder that Niklaus will mind that I took a little nibble of you at all. I mean, the way the two of you were pummelling each other this afternoon. I just couldn't __**feel**__ the love. But then again he can be very possessive when it comes to other people touching his things."_

Buffy could feel the blood stiffening across her skin. Time was steadily passing and he hadn't tried the compulsion again. Stall him, she thought. Until she could come up with a better plan, she would have to keep him occupied.

"_So are you pissed at Nick and exacting revenge or just bored with your existence?"_

* * *

Klaus shuddered as he wandered the streets. He hadn't been able to stop. Not since he'd seen her. Vampires weren't supposed to bruise and ache, not a vampire as old as him. But everything about him hurt. She undid him. Stripped him bare until he was nothing but a blubbering fool. He was revolted by himself. She made him so weak.

But that wasn't true.

She showed him the man he always wanted to be, she _made_ him that man…but it was too late for that man now. And he hated to be reminded of what he had lost. He wanted to be comforted. He wanted to forget all of it. Buffy Summers. _His_ Slayer. She had found him and sought to kill him. He wondered, in his own twisted way, if that didn't mean she still had feelings for him. You always hurt the one you love.

* * *

Both Elijah and Rebekah agreed that there was little chance Kol had secreted Buffy away in the town. The forests of Mystic Falls were extensive and perilous – perfect for hostage holding.

They had split into pairs. Rebekah refused to be paired with anyone but Elijah and Stefan had selected Alaric for himself. Damon didn't try to hide his pleasure at being teamed up with Elena but the mood remained solemn. The Slayer had been missing for hours. So had Kol. And Klaus. So the search commenced and before long twilight gave way to moonlight. Damon refused to believe that Buffy was dead. He had only just met her but the connection he felt was palpable. He loved Elena. He knew that. But he was curious about the effect this green eyed beauty was having on his heart. He was suddenly wondering where these feelings might lead him and just how willing he was to follow them.

A twig snapped loudly beneath Elena's foot causing her to flinch. Damon turned back to glare at her.

"_Is that Slayer stealth likely to kick in anytime soon?" _His tone was teasing but she could see how tense he was.

"_We don't all have vampire night vision, Damon,"_ she retorted.

"_Do you want me to carry you? It'll be faster."_

"_No, you can go on ahead. Don't let me slow you down."_

"_Two missing Slayers in one day? Not likely, Elena." _

He reached for her hand and proceeded to lead her deeper into the wood. Her free hand was clutched around the stake buffy had dropped in the alleyway.

* * *

Alaric and Stefan had been trekking the forest in silence. Stefan's silence was mostly contemplative whereas Alaric's anxiety was deafening.

"_If you've got something to say, Ric, then just be a man and say it," _Stefan murmured.

"_I always forget you've got a hundred years and change on me."_

"_Don't feel too bad, the seventeen year old façade fools everyone. What's on your mind…besides the obvious?"_

"_It can wait."_

Even in the darkness Alaric could easily make out Stefan's frustrated expression.

"_What do you know?"_

They both turned when they heard a woman stifle a giggle.

"_I think Ric here is referring to Elena and Damon's hand holding earlier, while you were…a little more dead than usual," _Rebekah emerged from the thicket with Elijah nowhere in sight. _"What is the allure of that human anyway? The Salvatore brothers wrapped around her little finger…it's so invariably tacky. Not that she could be expected of much else."_

"_You're right, what woman could compare to your high standard of conduct," _Ric made the remark with a stiff grin.

Rebekah snarled and Elijah appeared, pressing a hand to her chest he gave her a gentle shove.

"_I am apparently doomed to make apologies on behalf of my siblings for all eternity. An exciting charge, but entirely fruitless."_

"_Look, we could stand here all night making wise-cracks but I'd prefer it if we continued on our separate ways. Kol is out here somewhere with Buffy…or worse."_ What Stefan didn't mention was how unlikely it was that Elena would ever forgive _him _should anything fatal happen to the slayer. Somehow he figured it went without saying.

"_Come, Rebekah."_

"_Were they really holding hands?" _Stefan asked the question meekly as Alaric clapped him on the back.

"_Didn't wanna be the one to tell you."_

* * *

"_My brother's an odd sort. I can't understand why he would have handed this over to you. Fool for love indeed." _

Kol had been pacing for a time now. Buffy was certain he had forgotten she was there as he mused to himself aloud. His arrogance was admirable.

"_This necklace is as old as our family. Older still. It contains a magic so primordial…how he convinced himself you were worthy of such power. I'll never know."_

"…_So are you jealous of your brother or pissed that he handed over your family heirloom or whatever to me? Cause either way, listening to you go on and on about it is seriously putting me to sleep."_

Buffy let her head loll to the side now, in a show of deliberate boredom. The tug of her ravaged skin hurt but she ignored it.

"_He kept secrets from me. They all did. They __**all**__ walk so tall, Niklaus and Elijah…"_

Jealousy then. He'd been spilling his guts quite negligently. Apparently Nick had told his siblings all about her. Not Kol though. She could understand Nick's motives there, Kol appeared to be waiting for any excuse to wage war on his brothers. However unfair that sounded, she could only imagine the terrible things Nick had done to warrant such hate from his younger brother. But then Buffy didn't have to use her imagination. She knew firsthand the despicable things that Nick was capable of.

"…_well I've got the upper hand now. I've got you and you're going to help me."_


	10. Chapter 10

Klaus shuddered and rolled across the bed. What he wouldn't give for one restful night where the nightmares couldn't find him. He had done some terrible things, he was aware of it. When people agreed that terrible things happened as a result of the universe (meaning it was completely out of their control) – they were in actual fact referring to him. Klaus happened to them. He killed, he tortured and in the thick of it all he rejoiced. More importantly, each disgusting, homicidal act was justified. The tangle of cells, blood and neurotransmitters and whatever else came together to form a thought or a reaction all somehow managed to create _reason_ despite the woeful chaos that inevitably erupted.

Time can erode such human tendencies as conscience, given enough of it – a thousand years and change. It also offers a reprehensible amount of time to reflect on the ever-growing list of charges against one's name. Guilt.

He had never been quite able to escape that one.

Remorse.

Well, that one had come back to him almost overnight. A couple of years ago, actually. A thousand years to unlearn it and like the swift finality of a knife coming down a chopping board – humanity.

Yes, he _had_ done some terrible things. Centuries upon centuries worth of atrocities. So what right had he to one moment's peace of mind? His delicate features screwed up as though he were in great agony. She had led him to love again, to be both accepting of it and generous with it. So, naturally, he had ruined everything. And then that lesson in remorse had followed. Screams echoed his mind, pleas and innocent cries. He felt the warm and delectable ecstasy of the kill, the blood running down his throat…but during his worst nights it turned to stone in his stomach. That heady, euphoric experience turned to emptiness. If he could only dream, how sweet it would be to escape all of his past wrongs. To fall asleep in a lover's arms where he couldn't hurt anyone anymore. Where he would have no need to do so.

* * *

Elijah raised a hand to halt Rebekah but she was already pausing. Kol's voice was carried to them, it came through the forest in an arrogant and theatrical stream. Typical. Elijah might have shaken his head in exasperation but after the first few centuries the gesture had become quite meaningless. For not the first time that evening, he was silently grateful that Niklaus was not aware of Kol's latest childish lark. He doubted very much that Kol would still be in once piece. Had he not seen the real fear in his brother's eyes for himself, the undiluted love still coursing through him. Projected in his characteristic outbursts – well, that was all the evidence he required to conclude that Nik still had very real feelings for this Slayer. Whether they were somewhat buried and particularly unbidden, they lurked within him…and there was not a thing in this entire universe that he would do to upset the epiphany. Niklaus was feeling, feeling for someone other than himself – other than his blood kin. And Kol was going to pay heavily unless Elijah could take immediate control of the situation before things got out of hand. Out of hand? Wasn't that the understatement of _this_ century.

"_**What**__ are we waiting for, Elijah?" _Rebekah hissed into her brother's ear. _"He'll notice us before long. We have to move now."_

"_Little sister," _Elijah smiled in a rare show of teeth that seemed to light up the midnight dark, casting a shadow over the radiance of the moon. _"Your brother cannot hear anyone but himself."_

Rebekah refrained from emitting a rather unladylike snort and settled for a chuckle instead.

"_You can be terribly amusing, Elijah."_

"_Funny. People rarely notice."_

Elijah stiffened when he noticed Damon and Elena approaching from the west, directly opposite where he and Rebekah waited. He was relieved that they too took up watch. Rebekah seemed to be thinking the same thing. Should Kol be approached in the wrong way, the forest floor was sure to run blood.

"_It will only be a matter of time before Stefan also materialises. What then?"_

"_Kol will need to be restrained, The Salvatore's will rescue Miss Summers – It needn't be complex but we wait for the right moment. Do you understand me?"_

"_Are you mad at me?" _Rebekah looked into her big brother's eyes. She was still so lost, still so new to the world. Still his baby sister.

"_I cannot purge you of your guilt Rebekah. That is something for you to come to terms with on your own."_

"_I'll see to Damon and Elena, make sure that they don't try anything stupid."_

He listened to the sounds of Rebekah's disappearing footsteps until they were almost undetectable. He followed his sister as she traced the perimeter but he had to admit, his interest was indeed piqued with the dialogue happening in the clearing. Miss Buffy Summers, though suffering severe blood loss, distress and the company of his youngest brother was something to behold.

* * *

"_Help you?" _ Buffy's laughter filled the forest. It danced among the trees and cleared the air that had become thick with dread. _"You'll have to compel me first."_

"_That is indeed the plan. Or at least the first step. We're going to have a lot of fun together, you and I. And by the end of it…well…let's just say Elena is going to need to find a new mentor."_

When Buffy's expression drained of humour Kol adopted a mock tone of apology.

"_Why, you won't hold it against me, will you? It's just my nature, our nature in fact. Weren't you fighting for your life with my brother but a few hours ago?" _ He spun and gazed up at the moon. _"Well, I guess I've had you tied up a little longer than that but who's counting. You'll die because that's what a Slayer does, she dies for the "cause", she is killed for our pleasure. You should be so lucky to have such a noble destiny. For what is more fulfilling than knowing that your death will bring our kind the greatest of joys? The most outstanding of triumphs." _He chuckled. _"Very lucky indeed."_

"_You don't know who I am, do you?" _

Kol tore his eyes away from the stars so that he could study the woman he'd so carefully tied to the tree. Her tone was flat, her eyes bore into his. It seemed all her fear was gone.

"_I know all about you, about your Slayer escapades, your stint with Niklaus –"_

"_So what, you caught the headlines for the last couple of years? Is that it? I don't know what it is about the vampires in this town, You're different. I get that. There's a lot to be learned, and a hell of a lot more to be found out. But I'll tell you this, if there was ever a Slayer to get the answers, to take __**you down. **__It's me."_

* * *

Caroline unlocked her front door and wandered into the empty house. Her mum was working late, again. How annoying. She might have actually liked someone to talk to – though she would have hardly gone into detail about finding Klaus in her bed… how much that had freaked her out and well…Her mind trailed off. She wished Tyler were back but he had practically run into the next town courtesy of his sire-bond orders. But he had called and would probably be back by morning. She was so racked with guilt that she knew she was in for a sleepless night. And what was with the blonde bimbo that afternoon? She was feeling left out of the loop and didn't like it for a minute. She should storm over to Elena's right now and demand an explanation. Elena would know what was going on but then what was with Klaus showing up anyway?

She took a long, hot shower and under the massaging jets of steamy water – her mind began to wander. But Tyler wasn't there…not anywhere in the vicinity of her thoughts. Can vampires fall asleep standing up? Caroline didn't know if it was possible but she was suddenly awake or aware as though she had been in a trance. She'd felt arms around her, long, muscled arms. Sleek and gentle. Kisses at her throat. She'd been running her fingers through silken locks and the flicker of that golden crown of hair and those doomed blue eyes had shaken her back into her bathroom. No, no, no. She told herself over and over again. It had been a long, confusing day. No. It didn't mean anything. He didn't mean anything to her.

She crossed the hall into her bedroom, bundled in a warm, woolly bathrobe. When she opened the door with her other hand holding her head – A most unexpected voice greeted her.

"What's wrong, Love?"

* * *

Damon had an ironclad grip around Elena's arm. The foolish girl had been ready to charge into the clearing, toting a stake and eager to slay. Foolish didn't begin to cover _that_ idea. Of course the ordinary wood wouldn't have any effect on Kol, he'd be back on his feet a few minutes later and ready to wreak bloody vengeance on the rest of them. That's if she managed to get within a mile of him.

"_Let me go, Damon!" _ Elena hissed through her teeth and Damon clamped his free hand over her mouth.

Her eyes fired with rage but she couldn't move and her curses of protest went unheard. Rebekah appeared at their side and with a hand on her hip made a quick study of them.

"_You seem to have everything under control over here." _

Elena tried to shake Damon off and he smiled.

"_Just about."_

"_You'll wait for our signal then...unless you wish to die."_

"_Been there, done that," _Damon retorted. He stiffened and glared at Elena, Rebekah followed his gaze.

"_Did you just bite me?" _His tone was incredulous.

Rebekah rolled her eyes.

"_Will you two just sleep together already." _

She vanished and Damon slowly removed his hand from Elena's mouth. He began to drag her further away from the clearing, he was taking a real chance. Kol might have heard their movement – or perhaps he'd miss Elijah's signal but there was something he wanted to make very clear to Elena.

"_Shut it,"_ He said before she could even open her mouth. _"I'm not going to let her bleed to death, I'm not going to let her die at all. She's the slayer so she's tough. You got that? But that doesn't mean we're going to wait around while the littlest Original tears her to pieces."_

"_I-…_

"_No, listen. I know how important she is to you, you don't think I understand any of it…well you're wrong. You feel it and I feel it too." _ He looked back in the direction of where they had come. The expression of pained determination on Buffy's face would forever be burned into his memory.

"_She's incredible. So just trust me…trust me this once, Elena, when I say that I won't do the stupid thing."_

Elena studied Damon's face. She seemed to be searching him for something. His eyes met hers briefly.

"_She's important to me too," _He said at last.

Elena put her hand out and Damon took it. The two of them quietly walked back into position to await the signal.

* * *

_Kol smirked."You? You're the one? Not for much longer I'm afraid. Time is slipping away from you, every moment begins your ending. Are you ready for that? Any parting regrets, requests, pleas?" _His teeth parted with the last word and Buffy decided that if she was going to die, she wouldn't do so until she had well and truly wiped that smile from his face.

"_Well as long as you're offering a patient and understanding ear – I suppose there are a few things that I couldn't go to my grave without imparting. Not that you're my ideal audience but – _She shrugged – _"Girl's gotta make do."_

* * *

Stefan yanked Alaric back, tensing as he listened. He heard Buffy's voice and had the Slayer and her attacker in sight before long. Ric took Stefan's word for it and wondered if they were alone or the others were in position. Stefan's thoughts travelled to Elena's welfare and the severe killing he would give Damon should she not be entirely safe. Klaus was missing the party so perhaps the history that Damon suspected and Elijah alluded to was just smoke. But then, why did Elijah and Rebekah care if another Slayer was put down? Stefan understood the intensity and chaos of a vampires feelings – he had felt it. But he couldn't help but wonder what love would be like for someone as intensely chaotic as Klaus. How had mankind managed to survive such an occurrence? He wondered wryly.

"_Do we have a plan?" _Alaric mouthed the words.

"_We wait."_

* * *

Caroline put her hand to her heart, a reflex – kind of pointless now, she supposed.

Twice. She had found Klaus in her bed twice. What was he doing in her bedroom again _and_ how was she going to explain this to Tyler?

The confusion and guilt were causing her to frown rather than lash out in her usual style. She took a moment to notice just how terrible he looked. He looked tired. Desperately and hopelessly exhausted. He hadn't hidden under the covers but had curled himself up on top of them. The bed was mussed as though he had been tossing and turning. And when those huge blue eyes of his looked up at hers – enquiringly. Well, she almost felt her resolve shatter.

"_Were you manipulating my dream just now?"_

For a few seconds he seemed puzzled.

"…_I…didn't…"_

"_Oh come on, you would have heard me come in. A person's dreams are private – they are their most private thoughts…you can't just jump in and control them! But wait, of course you can cause you have to have everything your way – don't you?" _

"_You were dreaming about me?" _He took note of her bathrobe and wet hair _"...in the shower?" _

His mood seemed to shift and he was immediately sitting up.

"_My, my. Won't you tell me about it?"_

Her frown deepened.

"_Get out of my house."_

He didn't move but his eyes seemed to lose their lustre a little.

"_I can't sleep," _he said.

"_I'm sorry, I missed the part where that's my problem."_

"_I could make it your problem very easily. I do enjoy a certain level of control at all times…that is, I enjoy having all the control at all times. Would you prefer it if I compelled you to care?"_

Caroline stepped back into the door, her body hitting it with a thud. How could she have ever even for a second sympathised with him. This monster.

"_Ah, there it is. Fear. I deserve that. How rare it is that I don't see terror in the eyes of all that surround me."_

"_I'm not afraid of you. I only hope I never become like you."_

"_A monster, you mean?"_

"You _Read my mind."_

"_My apologies for the intrusion then," _he bit off the words with a smile and stretched his legs out. While she crossed the room he folded his arms, his eyes following her all the while.

"_Your boy got himself into quite a fix today, almost sucked that girl dry."_

When Caroline didn't say anything he continued.

"_I caught up with her afterwards. She won't remember a thing. Healed her up nicely as well."_

Caroline whipped around in annoyance.

"_Tyler made a mistake. I struggle with that same desire to feed and kill everyday. He's sorry."_

"_So You've already forgiven him?"_

"_Of course!"_

"_He could have killed her. I…I don't understand how it is that he will be forgiven his errors and I…"_

"_Don't you see that he is __**nothing**__ like you. He actually feels guilty for what he did today and you…"_

"_You don't believe that I can feel guilt?"_

"_I think that you kill people a lot. No, you murder and you inflict and you massacre. You hold creepy, witchy rituals and collect sacrifices for yourself. And I'm happy to say that's beyond any forgiveness that I'm willing to give. So you're on your own."_

He was always on his own. But she didn't need to hear that. He didn't exactly want to make a martyr of himself. She was right after all.

"_Young Tyler has my sympathies. You seem to hold him in high stead."_

Klaus was looking at his hands as he spoke but his eyes flickered up and seemed to catch and hold hers.

"_But what happens when he makes another mistake…and then another one? You love him but you won't always. He will eventually commit some indiscretion even your understanding heart will not be able to overlook…and what then? All he will have left is his love for you but it won't count for a thing because all you will see when you look at him is…"_

"_You?"_

Neither of them had noticed that Caroline had walked the distance to the bed and was now sitting on the edge of it. She had been overcome by the words that had so sadly tumbled from the Original's mouth.

"_You seem to be hung up on forgiveness tonight. If you thought that crawling into my bed was going to get it for you then you're seriously naïve for a gazillion year-old Vampire."_

His expression turned angry and his eyes hardened.

"_I could be better."_

"_No." _Caroline shook her head.

"_I could be better for you."_

"_You don't get it, do you? This sick fascination you have with me. It's not love. You don't know what it is to love!"_

"_That's where you're wrong, Caroline."_

"_Oh really, and who have you ever loved?"_

"_Would you perhaps like to get comfortable first? It's a long story."_

Something inside of Caroline didn't doubt that it would be. She was beginning to feel frightened, but not because he might rip her heart out at any second – oh, he was capable. But because of that look that had steadily found its way into his eyes. Guilt.

"_What did you do?"_


	11. Chapter 11

_Klaus grunted and lunged. It was three on one but it would be over quickly. Before him fought three of his finest men, they were supposed to have been family. They had guarded him once and respected his word above all else. Once they had feared him, but now they were his enemies. As the punches landed and the fight continued – they taunted and jeered at him. How quickly sycophants turn on their idol. _

"…_gone fucking soft Niklaus…"_

"…_got into the Slayer's pants and now you're as subservient as a dog."_

_Yes, he had sprung for assassins with good breeding and eloquence. They're hard to come by. He'd made sure they were well dressed. Had plenty of beautiful women to eat. He had taken care of them in much the same way that they had him. _

"_You can still walk away from this," was all he said in response. "Walk away and you can live."_

"_An ultimatum? You have gone soft…"_

_Even as he remembered, he felt that same sick feeling in the pit of his stomach as Buffy and an accompanying Slayer rounded the corner and threw themselves into the fight. The taunting had ended there while the fight escalated. But that didn't matter. Things had turned from bad to worse…to what would forever be one of the most painful memories of his existence._

* * *

"_You were picking off Slayers, one by one."_

"_It was more of a…group picking."_

The look of horror on Caroline's face made Klaus put his head in his hands.

"_Vampires hunt and kill Slayers in much the same way that Slayers kill Vampires! I really wish you would at least try not to look so scandalised."_

"_But what you're describing sounds like you had hit men sent out after them. You lured them out with random attacks and then they would fall into the trap."_

"_I am nothing if not organised," he retorted dryly._

"_You were dating the Slayer, no, You were in __**love**__ with her and you were killing all of those young girls…girls that she so carefully trained and took care of!"_

Klaus put his hands up in defense.

"_Slow down, Love. There'll be plenty more of my actions for you to rebuke...and I didn't know that she was the Slayer just yet. That part happened later."_

His hands stayed in his hair as he continued. He wasn't sure why he was telling her all of this anymore. It wasn't exactly winning him any sympathy.

"_And as soon as I found out who and what she was I put a stop to all of it."_

"_You stopped killing everyone? Well that must have been an adjustment," _she remarked.

"_Well__** I**__ did, but…they wouldn't listen to me. They disobeyed me."_

"_Who did?"_

"_My "hit men" as you so lovingly named them. They ignored my orders and continued their assault on the slayers. I had to go out and kill them myself to keep them from killing anybody else…I didn't have anyone left."_

"_But then, How did Buffy find out? I mean, she hates you now so…she found out, didn't she?"_

"_Yes." _

* * *

_One of the traitors had fled then. A coward. Afraid of death. Her Slayer friend who he later learned was Kennedy had taken off after him. The quiet streets of Rome suddenly echoed with footfalls and cursing. He might have laughed at the absurdity of it all. The terrible timing. But he couldn't afford to be arrogant at that moment. Not until he had gotten Buffy safely out of the way._

_His Slayer had looked so surprised to see him there…and it broke his lifeless heart when admiration crept onto her face. She thought that he was looking out for her, and her potential Slayers. What a fraud he had become. They each now had their own opponent to keep them busy but Klaus could not keep his mind straight. He was ready to fall to his knees right there and then and tell her everything. He didn't want to lie to her anymore. But how would he ever explain that he was the one who had been hurting her so abominably this entire time? He wanted to promise her that he had never meant it. That it wasn't him anymore. That he could be better. That he was better than he had ever been and it was because of her. But what if she didn't believe him? _

* * *

"_So you didn't tell her then?"_

"_No...I chickened out." _He smiled grimly. _"I loved her…I didn't want to hurt her…"_

He didn't know if he could say anymore. He had never told this story to anyone before…besides Elijah and even then he had skipped the emotional thoroughfare. He rarely laid all his cards out on the table. He certainly hadn't since that day.

"_You mean __**you**__ didn't want to get hurt." _Caroline bent her head so that he had to meet her eyes. _"Admit it. Just be honest Klaus, for once."_

"_What I did was unforgiveable…If she found out then…then she would leave me…she would hate me which would be unbearable enough but…"_

No. He didn't want to talk about it anymore. Klaus shifted himself so that his legs hung over the side of the bed and his back was to her. He felt himself stiffen when he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"_I didn't want to be alone again…so I lied…and I tried to cover it up…I had dozens of her potential slayers killed so that I would be safe, to keep our kind safe and I tried to hide it...I did everything I could to keep her. But I still ended up alone."_

"_Tell me what happened. Please."_

* * *

_Klaus shuddered when two more of his men sauntered into the alleyway. They snarled so commonly that he wondered that they had ever been allowed into his service. He recalled the whip of Buffy's hair._

"_I'll take these two. Check in with me later, okay?"_

_He had nodded and let her go. The moment her back was turned he had ripped the hearts from his two attackers and run immediately after her. He kept to the shadows, for a while he just watched her – she fought with such grace and energy. To interrupt would have been like intruding on an intimate dance. But he stepped into view, he remembered what he had said._

"_Why don't you check on your friend, Love? I'll be right behind you."_

"_So you can have all the fun?" _

_He had laughed then but she had trusted him enough to search for Kennedy. That was to be his undoing. He took the head off one of the Vampires. Then Derek, seeing what was in store for him, had turned and run. Klaus had naturally chased him down. Mercy was not warranted but the death was swift. He didn't pay attention to the streets as he made his way back to where he had left off with Buffy, he merely let his senses guide him. _

_He found himself walking down a narrow alley, the end of which was a dead end. Buffy and Kennedy stood with their backs to him while Michelangelo, he had been his right hand man once, stood with almost leisurely ease against the wall. He spoke to them animatedly and it appeared both of them were riveted by what he was imparting. They had abandoned fighting stance and were standing stock still. _

"…_You don't believe me, look behind you. There's your killer. We had our orders and your boyfriend over there was the one who issued them…we're just humble mercenaries."_

_Klaus had stopped completely. He stood as still as Buffy. She didn't turn around at all. Instead she rammed a stake through Michelangelo's heart and with a voice quivering with rage and pain she said_

"_Get out of here, Kennedy."_

_The girl had hesitated and then walked right past him, all the while she looked over her shoulder at her mentor. _

"_Is it true?"_

"_I'm afraid I came in at the tail end of the discussion. I…"_

"_Is it true?"_

_She still hadn't turned around. He began to walk towards her but she snapped._

"_Don't come any closer. Just answer the question."_

"_How can you even ask me if any of that drivel is true…he would have said anything if it meant he could walk away from this alive."_

"_You haven't answered me."  
"Why can't you trust me?"_

"_Because you're lying to me," She practically spat the words as she finally spun to face him. "This whole time…it was you? Tell me it's not. Convince me. Tell me it's not!" She screamed. _

"…_Can you forgive me?"_

_Buffy's stance shifted as she brought her hands up, now clenched into fists. Her stake ready in the back of her jeans. _

"_Buffy. Please listen to me."_

_She stepped slowly towards him and he towards her. _

"_I won't hurt you."_

"_Well I'll kill you," she said. "Come a step closer and I __**will**__ kill you. You monster."_

* * *

Caroline kept her hand pressed to Klaus' shoulder as he retold and relived the tragedy. What he had shared with her was a terrifying secret and terrible burden. She wanted to be disgusted with him, but was feeling at odds with herself. For there was sympathy in her heart.

"_It doesn't end there."_

"_No?"_

He sighed and very delicately removed her hand from his shoulder. He swung his legs back onto the bed so that he could look directly into her eyes.

"_I'm a monster, remember?"_

* * *

"_Well what did you expect? I am a Vampire. We hunt, we feed, we kill. It is who we are and it is __**what**__ we are."_

"_So this is my fault? I should have known better, is that it?"_

"_You knew what I was."_

"_You hid it well."_

"_I'm a Vampire, Buffy! Your band of Slayers had it coming. Not just from me but from every other demonic creature on this earth -"_

"_I was supposed to be able to trust you."_

"_Guess you were wrong, quite a hit to your slayer ego, isn't it?"_

_Her face seemed to contort with pain then, her eyes bore into his but she couldn't find the man she loved anymore. For he had fled. _

"_Get out of here."_

"_What's wrong with here and now, Love? Come on – don't back down."_

"_All of those attacks, did you really stage them? Did you trap and murder them in cold blood?"_

"_Not personally, that's what lackeys are for. Never liked getting my hands dirty." He raised his perfectly manicured hands as if in explanation. A smile formed on his lips, cold and inhuman. _

* * *

"_You flicked the switch?"_

"_She was never going to forgive me."_

"_So you lashed out at her instead. To protect yourself."_

"_She didn't love me anymore."_

"_You are such an idiot." _Caroline slipped off the bed and walked to her bedroom window. Her mobile phone buzzed to life on her dresser as she received a text message.

* * *

"_What are you doing?" _Damon mouthed to Elena through the darkness.

"Back up," she mouthed back. Her fingers deftly moved over her mobile before she tucked it back into her jacket.

His brow furrowed but he turned his attention back to the clearing without a word. Every muscle in his body was tense and ready to spring into action. He was fighting every urge to do just that and wait for Elijah's signal. But since when did he abide by someone else's rules? The frown on his face deepened. He didn't want to make a mistake. Something inside of him told him that this was too important. He couldn't afford to mess up…not with her. What was it about her? It was like…but…he couldn't let himself feel too much. He had to bring her out of it alive. He could deal with his feelings later. He was _more_ than used to setting them aside. He could Buffy struggling to remain conscious as the blood loss dragged her down and away. Her blood smelled heavenly. But it was wrong. It was insulting and it only made him want to tear Kol Mikaelson limb from limb. A soft rumbling began in his throat, too quiet for Elena to hear. He felt like an animal, caged, rabid and poised to kill.

* * *

Caroline frowned as she read the text from Elena. She wasn't quick enough in smoothing the expression from her face.

"_What is it, love?"_

"_Don't call me love. And nothing. Just Tyler."_

"_You're lying."_

Klaus was immediately standing before her, staring into her eyes.

"_Are you going to compel me then?"_

"_If you tell me the truth I won't have to."_

"_It's Tyler," _Her voice was firm.

He followed her as she began to steadily walk backwards. He was smiling that smile that made her stomach twist into knots of fear.

"_Caroline," _He said.

Her milky wrist came up, her delicate hand was fisted around the mobile. Klaus' fingers clasped her hand as she released it to him. They watched each other throughout the exchange. She felt the heat pass between them and turned her back to him while he tried to tear his eyes away from her. Caroline pressed her hand to her mouth. What was she thinking? She heard an odd cracking that forced her to turn back to face the Original. Twisted pieces of her phone seeped from his hand and dropped to the floor.

"_Kol." _

She couldn't remember a time she had ever heard a voice so distorted with blind rage. Then he softened and the change in his demeanour was equally terrifying.

"_I'll replace your phone."_

"…_That's…okay…"_

"_You're not to leave your house. Promise me?"_

"_But…what are you going to do?"_

"_I'll assemble the pack." _ He crossed the room but Caroline crushed herself between him and the door.

"_Don't be frightened, Love, I'll make sure I return to you in once piece." _ He winked and she shuddered.

"_No, but you can't drag Tyler into this."_

"_He is one of __**mine**__."_

"_I love __**him**__."_

Caroline felt Klaus gently push her aside. Then he was gone.

* * *

Kol laughed. _"You wound me deeply, Miss Summers but do go on. I am __**all**__ ears."_

"_You'll never beat me." _She gazed into his eyes dreamily, she didn't know if it was the blood loss but it wasn't such a bad feeling. _"Many have tried and that's a lot of many. Demons of all kinds, the mystical forces of the universe...when the most powerful force of evil in the world put a sword through me I stood back up again."_

Kol's smile hadn't yet faltered but he was listening.

"_I've died twice and yet I'm still in a position to be kidnapped by an idiot vampire like you..."_

"_A track record like that isn't so impressive outside of a soap opera..." _Kol spoke up wryly.

"_I've been beaten to a pulp, burned, drowned, stabbed, bitten and I've felt the twist of a stake through my gut. But I've dished out worse. You won't have heard the stories because my opponents don't survive to tell them. From the moment you decided to make an enemy of me I had already signed your death warrant because I am __**the**__ one, __**the**__ chosen one. When I walk away from this you had better start running. Cause killing Nick might have been my mission when I came to town but killing __**you**__, I think I'll do __**that**__ for fun." _

Her eyes were beginning to cloud, a thin layer of gauze had been draped over her sight. Her body was giving out on her. Buffy fought to hold Kol's gaze which, through the course of her monologue, had grown cold with fury – good. Showed him. But she wasn't done.

"_When I met Nick, I knew what he was. The monster that he could be but that didn't stop me from loving him because I saw the humanity in him. But you, you're not only incapable of loving but are absolutely undeserving of it!" _

Four pairs of vampire eyes and two pairs of human watched as something inside of Kol Mikaelson snapped and with a thundering stride, he charged right at her.

But as suddenly as Kol rushed at The Slayer, when it seemed there was no possible chance that she could be reached in time before he tore out her throat, as Damon Salvatore roared and as the horror unfolded before them all – the _wolves_ descended.


	12. Chapter 12

Bodies of multi-coloured fur, rippling with muscle loped into the clearing with venomous teeth gnashing, ready to rip and tear and deliver merciless death. While the pack ran, the thundering of their heavy feet was drowned out by the savage howl of the alpha - it was a battle cry, the pained sound was a call for blood and vengeance. But nobody could see or determine from whom the call originated. When the sound came to a halt, the wolves seemed to be spurred into frenzy and so the hunt began.

Kol, frozen beside Buffy and with menace in his eyes, turned to face the crazed dogs that had been set upon him. There was only one person who could be responsible for the attack. But he had never seen his brother turn, so it was impossible to pinpoint which mewling beast was Niklaus. That hardly mattered. He would take great pleasure in ripping the hearts from each of his brother's soldiers, his so lovingly assembled family. For a moment his attention was distracted from the Slayer – He smirked.

"My move, then?"

In amongst the trees, Elena fought desperately to keep Damon back. Her nails sunk into his arms but he didn't feel anything. He couldn't tear his gaze from the incredible battle unfolding before his eyes. He heard Kol's arrogant rebuttal in amongst the assemblage of the pack of hybrids – which he believed had shocked everyone – but wasn't prepared for what came next. Vampires. They dripped from the canopy. They stepped out as though they were the trees themselves. He hadn't seen or sensed them and his eyes narrowed with annoyance. Elena had been dragged into a death trap and The Vampire Slayer was tied helplessly to a tree at the very core of it all. Pain rippled through him, he couldn't wait for a signal any longer. The chaos ensuing before them was signal enough for him.

* * *

There was no pause, no get set, ready and go. The hybrids were suddenly tearing the vampires limb from limb and the vampires retaliated in kind. They were not deterred by the fatal bites they incurred, their zealous efforts to protect their leader only becoming more exaggerated

"_They're compelled."_The words had a bitter taste in Elijah's mouth. It was a disgusting display of waste. He barely flinched as Damon Salvatore threw himself into the fray, followed closely by Stefan and Alaric Saltzman. What made his brow furrow, only slightly, was what the trio had done with Elena.

"_It's time, Rebekah,"_He murmured.

Their feet barely skimmed the forest floor as they ran into the clearing. The easy grace of the Original's movements made the rest of them look almost slovenly. Elijah took one of the thug's skulls into his hands and it crumbled. Another of them had the audacity to grab him from behind – tearing the sleeves of his suit jacket. His eyes turned to slits as he tossed what was left of it aside and attacked.

* * *

Stefan dodged the lunge of a vampire and sent it sprawling into the undergrowth but was quickly distracted once more by another. He dared chance a glance behind him to where Damon had so unceremoniously tied Elena up. To his horror, she was no-where in sight. He staggered with surprise giving his opponent the upper-hand. The two of them toppled to the earth and Stefan shouted in pain as the Vampire's fist penetrated his chest. He tried to grasp him around the throat but the pain was blinding. He felt fingers closing in around his heart when the vampire shuddered. Veins spread across it's now entirely lifeless body as it turned a swampy green. When he tossed aside the corpse, it was Elena who extended a hand to help him up.

He took note of the stake, gripped comfortably between her fingers – but there was no time to dwell on it. For the six of them had been swallowed up. It was war.

* * *

Instinct had completely taken him over. He breathed in the scents of the forest, the vampires, his hybrids, he sensed the Salvataore brothers, he snarled when he noticed Rebekah and Elijah but a part of him felt...pleased. He didn't wonder at their involvement. The varying aromas of blood were driving him mad. How he wanted to kill. And he did. He cut down each vampire that unknowingly approached him. He made his way through what had become a battleground. He could see her. She was just clinging to consciousness, still desperately battling the ropes that bound her. He loved her stubbornness. Her drive. She was screaming now, or rather rasping for someone to un-tie her. Kol was circling the chaos with a grin on his face. He was looking for him. He wanted to approach her, to un-tie her. He wanted to carry her home. But he kept his distance instead. She was tough, he hadn't yet met anyone stronger. He could trust that she would be alright now. She was safe as long as he kept her in view.

* * *

Damon shoved aside a vampire, he had been battling to get to Buffy's side from the beginning. When he noticed that Elena had managed to escape he was furious. She was fighting alongside Stefan, and he was grateful for all the training she had been putting in. But this still wasn't any place for her. There was a conflict waging war inside of him, which he hadn't the time to acknowledge. In any case, he wasn't leaning in the direction he had thought he would...

It helped that the hybrids were not attacking them, he was very curious to know which among them was Klaus. The battle suddenly escalated as an influx of vampires were injected into the fray. Damon saw Ric stake two vampires simultaneously without breaking stride before being overwhelmed by three. Elena took it upon herself then and rushed them. Damon looked around him and shoved his way over to Stefan.

"You need to get your girlfriend out of here. Now."

"I can't, she wants to be a part of this fight."

"There are too many of them, we need to bail and leave it to the hybrids."

Stefan stopped to study his brother, a look of astonishment crossed his face.

"I can't be rational sometimes?...Just get her out of here."

Damon strode in and amongst the grasping, dying bodies - tearing out hearts where he could - clearing a path to Elena. He yanked her by the waist and made to toss her to Stefan.

"We're leaving," he said in her ear.

"What? No! Damon, put me down!"

A few of the vampires took this opportunity to charge him and he collapsed, Elena sprawling to the ground a few feet from him. Stefan quickly had her in his arms and looked back in time to see his brother being cut down. Five of them stood over him. Damon struggled beneath them, he felt like he was burning all over as they, each in crazed turn, attempted to tear his heart from his chest. Everything had slowed down around him. He could see the faces of each of his attackers - he felt the delivery of each blow and the pain it ignited. Then he saw Buffy - amid all of the bodies - she was looking at him, her jaw clenched as she fought the ties. She was shouting. Pleading. Their eyes met and he saw the sorrow in them. Then a new body stepped in front of him blocking those curious green eyes. He heard an ear-splitting howl and the vampires were sent sailing into the night. The hybrid tore them a part and snarled. Then it turned on Damon while he fought his way to his knees. He locked eyes with the beast, and it calmed. They stared at one another for that seemed a life-time and Damon knew just who he was looking at.

"I'm gonna need you to distract Kol. He's gonna come right at me once he figures out what I'm up to."

The hybrid seemed to nod, golden eyes flickering pale blue. Then Klaus turned to begin clearing a path to his brother.

* * *

Kol was frowning. He was disappointed in Elijah and Rebekah. Where was their sense of fun? And why was it, that after everything that Klaus had committed, had inflicted and upon them especially - they fought at his side? He took up post beside the Slayer now. The stupid girl fought uselessly to untie herself - her wrists were cracked and torn with blood and still she kept on.

"You're going to have terrible bruising if you keep that up."

"You son of a bitch," she whispered.

"Now, now. There is no need for that kind of language. My mother was hardly a Saint but such name-calling is just childish."

He smiled down at her and lifted her chin to him.

"I could kill you right now, I could snap this delicate neck of yours. It wouldn't take much."

"You were going to kill me all along. There was no plan, was there?" She spat the words.

"There is _always_a plan. This plan just so happened to begin and end with your dying. No hard feelings though, right?"

Buffy shook her head from his grip but everything was going dark. She wouldn't be able to hold on for much longer. But she couldn't bear dying while roped to a tree. And she certainly couldn't abide by dying at the hands of such an amateur. Thousand year existence be damned.

He proceeded to run his fingertips down her cheek.

"There, there, Love," He said - imitating Nick. "You'll likely not feel a thing."

She felt powerful hands grip her chin once more, her eyes turned wide to face her killer - to meet his hideous smile.

That unearthly howl filled her ears once more, deafening her. And Kol was suddenly ripped aside. But she could still feel hands around her face. Cold and powerful but gentle. She shuddered. The world was spiralling into oblivion.

"Don't you die on me now, don't you dare."

Buffy squinted up at her saviour.

"Damon," she breathed out his name.

She felt the terrible grip at her wrists come loose at last but all around them the hybrids and vampires continued their riot. Damon was pulled away from her.

* * *

Damon watched the look of horror on Buffy's face as he was dragged from her side. He looked around desperately as he fought his way back to her. He hadn't loosened the rope enough for her to pull free quite yet. And she was exhausted. She yanked, somewhat half-heartedly as her knees buckled. He was tossing each attacker aside now. He didn't have time for them. He wouldn't let her down. He couldn't. Her breathing was shallow as the ropes were finally pulled away.

"Hey," he ran delicate fingers down her cheek. "You can't nap right now."

Her body was so light as she attempted to steady herself against him. She managed to peer up at him.

"It's not the first time I've died. I always recover."

"So I've heard."

Damon couldn't see Elijah or Rebekah Mikaelson any longer. The entire clearing was thick with bodies – writhing with life and death. He kept himself and Buffy poised against the tree – he would need a distraction in order to get her out. But the Vampires were already turning on them.

"Uh…A little help!"

The entire forest was immediately lit up in a brilliant display of light. It shimmered and cascaded over every tree, every rock and every supernatural creature. Vampires and hybrids were sent sailing as it appeared a neat hole was being torn through the fabric of the air. Damon wrapped his arms around Buffy, clutching her to his chest so tightly that he worried he might crush her. But she was holding him in much the same way as the tree they rested against lost the battle against the magical intrusion and all three of them took flight.

He broke her fall. She managed to land quite comfortably on top of him. All around them lay vampires or hybrids in various stages of consciousness. Or simply dead.

"Are you okay?"

Buffy looked up, her eyes studying the woman now standing in the clearing where the giant tear had been. Her golden locks glistened over small shoulders – and it was with both a sympathetic almost disinterested gaze that the goddess studied her surroundings. When Buffy's eyes met those of her best friends – her head came down on Damon's chest like a stone.

"It's Willow," she sighed. "I can pass out now."

Damon sat up slowly, all the while keeping firm hold of the Slayer. Bonnie Bennet stepped into view beside the woman Buffy had referred to as Willow. The two of them eyed each other and the goddess spoke up.

"I suppose we have a little cleaning up to do. You, Vampire," she said – addressing Damon. "Would you mind getting Buffy out of here please."

Damon's expression turned hard but he didn't say anything. He stood and slowly carried Buffy out of the wood. He didn't hear anything, he didn't even sense another presence. Instead he looked over, and some distance away stood Klaus – His eyes didn't meet Damon's. He was studying the broken Slayer in his arms instead. And then he was gone.

* * *

Willow's gaze travelled the entire clearing. She had never quite seen an all-out war such as this. Vampires and _Hybrids. _Vampire-wolves. It made her think of Oz, and her expression softened. Bonnie Bennett stood quietly at her side. Waiting. Willow stood perfectly still as the Damon Salvatore carried Buffy safely away – she also sensed Klaus Mikaelson's presence before it too disappeared. Kol Mikaelson and the rest of the Original Family had also fled. Well. There was nothing she could do about that just yet. But for now. She stretched her hand to Bonnie so that the young witch could clasp it – she didn't blink nor speak.

The vampires were the first to rise – those that had survived her entrance that is. The compulsion melted away and the scattered blood drinkers drifted slowly out of the wood. The hybrids were next. Each in turn slowly transformed back into their human form and also left. For the power she exuded had a most tantalising and positively terrifying scent. And no-one dared challenge her. Once the forest was returned to a somewhat normal state of being, Willow let go of Bonnie's hand and turned to face the witch.

"I can't thank you enough for contacting me," was all she managed. Bonnie nodded and the witches, at last, also departed as the first rays of sunlight began to fill the sky.


	13. Chapter 13

The day was deceptively still. As though completely unaware of the storm that had raged long and brutal through the night. The air was clear, parted so that the sun might shine upon them. Mocking them. Damon stretched out across the bed, tucking his hands behind his head. Next to him, the slayer writhed in a terribly restless sleep. Each time she moved, the bandages at her molested throat crinkled and crackled. Damon traced gentle fingertips over her cheek and chin, moving the displaced locks of hair away from her face. Further down the bed at his feet sat a bowl of water, with a cloth drenched in Buffy's blood. Elena had taken up vigil by the Slayer's side - cleaning her wounds - and insisting that she would not need the help of Damon's blood. _"Slayer's heal quickly, Damon. You can't just go jamming blood down somebody's throat every time they get hurt." _Her impatient words echoed his mind. _Well, not quickly enough_. Watching her toss and turn, feverish with restlessness was pushing him to open a vein and force it down her throat. But he didn't. He had her all to himself once more, and he was aching with curiousity - no, positively burning with it. He wanted to get inside that dream of hers - and so that was the moral dilemma that consumed him instead.

He had tried to get into her mind once and was met with some sort of wall. He didn't know if it was mystical but he had not scented vervayne on her. She had a very powerful witch looking out for her - perhaps she had voodoo-ed some sort of curtain around her mind. To keep seflishly intrusive beings like himself out. So, had Klaus ever gotten inside? He cocked his head only slightly and listened. Then he took a _very _selfish step and descended into her dream. Whatever magic that protected her mind had been stripped and before him was laid bare - Buffy Summers.

_Buffy was walking down a pathway. A pebbled pathway. It meandered through an expanse of lush grass littered with flowers in varying stages of bloom – alive, colourful and magnificent. A coaxing breeze sent them dancing in a leisurely rhythm. The sun shone, but only gently and there wasn't a single looming cloud to dampen the harmonious walk she was sharing with her mother. Such dreams had become a regular occurrence for her ever since she had been brought back to life by Willow. She did believe, that in some way, she could always reach out to her mother and never truly be without her. So they walked, and talked and daughter emptied her heart out to her mother about her time in Mystic Falls. In much the same steady pace as the flowers swayed, they traversed the path together. Then Buffy shuddered and stopped – Her mother frowned as Nick approached them from the opposite end of the path._

_Buffy put a hand out to keep her mother from going any further but when she looked back her mother was gone and so was the beautiful garden. Instead they were in Mystic Falls – the same alleyway outside the Mystic Grill – where they had seen each other for the first time in over two years. Where they had fought. His smile was tranquil, borderline playful._

"_You need to hit me again, love? Might make you feel better."_

"_How did I get here?"_

"_You came here for me, remember?"_

_Buffy opened her mouth as he came towards her. Her eyebrows were drawn up in confusion. His arms were on hers, he was soothing her but she couldn't understand what was happening._

"_You shouldn't be here," she said. _

"_But I'm exactly where you want me to be." His hand brushed her cheek, gently, seductively. She closed her eyes as his fingertips brushed her lips. A tear trickled down her cheek that she furiously wiped away. _

"_Come on now, Love. Don't cry – I'm right here."_

"_I'm not crying because of you, you idiot. Well. I am, but. This is all wrong. Everything went wrong and nothing is ever going to make it alright again."_

_She wrapped a hand around his wrist as she gently shoved him away. _

"_I was here to kill you and I would have too but…"_

"_But what?" He was running his hands through her hair now and she felt as though her mind were tripping over itself. Why couldn't she get out? _

"_I can't." She moved past him and put her hands up in retaliation. "I can't and I won't. _

"_But it's what you want. Why should you deny yourself what you want?"_

"_Cause it's…cause I…"_

_Nick tilted his head and strode towards her. "If you want me then just say so."_

"_Why can't I get out of here?" _

"_You don't want to."_

"_Yes I do." The tears began to run down her cheeks now, in an effortless stream. She swallowed hard but her voice came out steady. "I don't want you anymore." _

* * *

Elena stood facing the fire-place. It was warm out but she had felt compelled to light up the otherwise empty grate. She longed for the sound of a crackling fire. There was such wisdom in the dancing flames. And such comfort in the lingering warmth. She stared into its depths while the night's events passed over her eyes. Her mind was reeling at her own reflexes. Her instinct. Her strength. But above all, her courage. She hadn't known she could be so reckless. Even fearless. It felt as though she hadn't been thinking at all. It was as though this whole other person existed within her and that girl had finally been allowed out. And now that she knew her, she never wanted her to hold back again. She was powerful and intuitive and above all – she was _not_ helpless. She heard footsteps behind her. Stefan came to stand at her side and also study the fire.

"_How is she?"_ Stefan asked. Neither of them looked at the other. The fire's tendrils instead held their gaze.

"_She's asleep -Damon is watching over her. I think she'll be fine after she has had some rest."_

Stefan slowly nodded.

"_She could have died out there," _Elena murmured.

"_**You**__ could have died out there."_

Stefan turned to face her now. His eyes were hard but she chose not to meet them.

"_I suppose so. But I have never felt more alive."_ She turned away from the fire so that she could circle the room. "_For the first time in my life, I wasn't the helpless human."_

"_You mean for the first time since you met me."_

"_No, that's not what I meant."_ Elena's voice grew louder as her face screwed up with rage.

"_Didn't you see me? Didn't I save your life?"_

"_You were careless and foolhardy. Buffy Summers didn't come all this way for you to throw yourself into the first battle – to offer yourself up as a sacrifice!"_

"_I know that, Stefan. She finally gave me a reason for living. I know who I am now and what I am supposed to do!"_

Stefan's eyes clouded over.

"_Why are you shaking your head at me?"_ Elena's voice was pleading. "_Why can't you just be happy that I can finally be useful. I won't just be standing on the sideline anymore – you won't need to protect me. We can protect each other."_

"_I thought __**I **__was your reason." _

Elena opened her mouth to respond and closed it. The two of them stood regarding each other in silence as a knock came at the front door – dispelling the heavy silence that coated the room.

Stefan opened it to find a woman standing there. He frowned.

"_Can I help you?"_

The woman gave a small, somewhat shy laugh, tossing her red hair. She had very brown, very naïve eyes and a soft voice.

"_Yes, you could let me see my best friend. I'm Willow."_

Stefan turned back to Elena, where recognition was slowly becoming apparent.

"_You're the witch from last night. You were with Bonnie."_

This embarrassed young woman had overturned a war just by showing up – and now she stood, no, hovered with sheepish grace over their threshold.

"_That's right. Now may I come in?"_

* * *

Willow settled into one of the deep sofas. She was handed a cup of tea and regarded by two very wary pairs of eyes.  
One Vampire.  
One potential Slayer.  
Each with respectable stores of supernatural power at their disposal, but then she was something else entirely. There were parts of her that even she feared. She had done terrible things. Some would say unforgiveable - others would remark that they were impressive.  
But she had made her peace.  
Nobody was speaking. So she placed her tea-cup and saucer on the table before her.  
_"I had an enlightening conversation with Klaus Mikaelson earlier."_  
That got a reaction.  
_"What?"_ they cried in unison.  
A small smile took hold of her and she raised a hand to wave the remark away when something curious happened and she turned her attention to the second floor.

_"Who, did you say was upstairs with Buffy?"  
"Damon, she's safe with him,"_ Elena said confidently.  
Willow noticed a flicker of annoyance cross Stefan's face but ignored it. Something was going on in that bedroom.  
_"What is it?"_ Stefan asked.  
_"No, it's nothing. I'll grill him later."_ The smile was back on her face and she seemed to be shaking away laughter. _"You vampires are a sneaky bunch. So many powers and tricks...Anyway, where was I?"  
_Stefan and Elena took a moment to exchange glances of confusion but Willow only took an innocent sip of tea and waited.  
_"You went to see Klaus," Elena said.  
"Right, Yep. I won't go into detail but he's not going to be an issue anymore."  
"What does that mean?"_ Stefan asked.  
_"It means that I doubt, I __**highly **__doubt that he will stick around a week longer."  
"He had been terrorising us for over a year now. He's...He's been killing and..."_ Elena trailed off, her head was spinning.  
_"And tormenting each of us,"_ Stefan continued. _"His whole existence has centered around assembling an army of hybrids - and he has only just recently been in a position to succeed -"  
"And you're telling us,"_ Elena said, finding her words once more_. "That the two of you had a chat and now he's what, decided to leave town?"  
"I'm not sure what bearing our __**chat**__ had on his decision. It seemed to me that his mind was already made up when I got there."  
"And you're letting him off the hook, just like that?"_ Elena's face was screwed up with hurt. Rage long pushed aside was slowly seeping back into her heart.  
_"It's not her fault, Elena,"_ Stefan placed comforting hands on her shoulders but she shrugged him off.  
_"I __**am**__ sorry, I know that he has caused you a great deal of trouble - and that's an understatement. But I'm not the one who gets to let him off the hook. We talked and now I'm here to get Buffy back to Rome as soon as she is feeling up to it."  
_Willow watched a stream of emotions pass over the younger Salvatore's face. She could have taken a peek at his thoughts if she wished. But his face made them plain enough. Elena was pacing the room - her own mind afire but she softened when she looked at Stefan. Footsteps from behind them had everyone looking up. Damon stopped when he noticed Willow.  
_"Hope I'm interrupting something," _he smiled_.  
"Damon,"_ Willow said, her eyes narrowing.  
_"And you are?"  
"Oh we met last night, I left Buffy in your very capable hands."  
"You look different. Not as spangly, Witch."  
"Willow. So I noticed you're making yourself very comfortable with her. I take it you didn't ask for permission first?"  
_Elena and Stefan turned on Damon immediately.  
_"What is she talking about, Damon?" _Elena barked.  
Damon shrugged, undeterred_. "I wouldn't know, I don't speak witchy."_  
_"It's okay,"_ Willow said, rising to her feet. _"He knows what he's done. And he's far too impressed with himself to back down."  
_Damon smiled icily. It was true, he couldn't be more pleased with what he had uncovered. He didn't even have to interfere with the dream, she went there _all_ on her own. It had obviously been troubling her. His mood dimmed.  
_"You better hope she doesn't find out. Buffy hates mind games, just ask Dracula."_  
Willow smirked cheekily as she made for the stairs - the look of accomplishment was already melting from Damon's face. Elena parked herself right in front of him. Furious.  
"You compelled _**her **__didn't you_? _What the hell for? So she can be part of some sick fantasy of yours?" _  
She thundered up the stairs after Willow.  
_"I didn't compel anyone," _he shouted after her half-heartedly.  
_"So what __**did **__you do, Brother?" _Stefan asked, clapping Damon on the back.  
_"I couldn't say, Brother," _Damon bit off dryly_. "I wouldn't want to corrupt you."_

* * *

Buffy crossed Damon's room, her bare feet padding it's cool surface. Her muscles were pretty achey but the movement felt good. And the tightness at her neck was also bearable. Did she know how to get herself into a fix or what? She was mentally kicking herself with each step, partly because her entire plan had been foolish and well, in the end – nothing had been resolved. And she had dragged a whole lot of otherwise uninvolved people into _her_ mess. She had been sleeping heavily when Willow and Elena had burst in, and she had been dreaming. But she couldn't remember and for some reason that bothered her.

Nick had been there. That was it. Nick was _still_ there. Had that been all of it? There was no end to him. She didn't know if she wanted there to be one anymore.

She fingered the collar of the shirt she wore contemplatively. Someone had taken the liberty of bundling her into one of Damon's shirts – she assumed it was his – but of course the vampire would have been delighted at any opportunity to get into her pants – she found an ill-timed smirk creeping onto her face.

"_I'm fine, Elena. My head feels just fine – not the least bit tampered with." _But then again, how could she be sure of that? Her protective necklace was gone. The last connection she had to Nick had been forcibly taken from her. What could Damon have done to her? _No, can't afford to be paranoid…_

Elena stood across the room with her arms folded, wearing an expression of concern that made her her look far older than her eighteen years.

"_But Willow said that -"_

"_Willow says a lot of things, she's full of useful information – " _Buffy was ready to make one of her usual remarks when she paused to consider the last few days and the bearing they had on the girl standing before her.

"_I have been incredibly unfair to you," _she said earnestly. She immediately walked over to where Elena patiently waited. _"I came here with selfish intentions, I was being driven by my vendetta – I talked myself into believing that I was here on a recruiting mission but _– _as you can see, things escalated quickly and I nearly got myself killed and you and your friends as well. So Im sorry for all of it. I've been a complete hypocrite. I know better than to be so selfish. Or at least I thought I did."_

She shifted so that she and Elena could sit on the edge of the bed together.

"_I sort of did this to myself," _Buffy said as she gestured to her throat. _"I've been drained a couple of times and it never gets fun. But I'm not going to talk about myself anymore, I have some unresolved issues – I think that's fairly obvious but…you deserve answers and my complete honesty as one Slayer to another. So!-" _ She jumped to her feet causing Elena to flinch.

"_I'm going to need some pants and then we're going to do a little training, where you will be free to pick my brain to your heart's content. What do you say?"_

* * *

_**Earlier that morning**_

Klaus was sitting in the library. His back was to the door, but the house was empty. Kol had fled though he had an accurate idea of where he could find him. Elijah had taken Rebekah out so that his brother could have some privacy with his thoughts. But he didn't _want_ to be alone with his thoughts. He kept replaying the image of Damon carrying Buffy away – over and over. He had heard her stuttering heartbeat but now he was completely in the dark as to how she fared. It would have only taken a few mouthfuls of blood to heal her.

Surely it hadn't been too late?

He snapped and heaved the chair that he sat on through the window. It shattered and the morning air hit him – momentarily reviving him. He leaned against the now glass-less panes and dropped his head.

"_That wasn't particularly clever of you,"_ A woman spoke up from behind him. She had snuck up on him. But then, he had been expecting her.

"_I came here with the intention of lengthy discussion, and now you'll have no chair to sit in."_

"_You'll keep it brief then, for my sake."_

Willow chuckled and closed the door behind her.

"_Come on, turn around. I've never seen you up this close before. Or in this __**form**__ for that matter."_

She was mocking him, somewhat innocently, but he didn't care for it. He turned to face her nonetheless. She was small. And very fair. The red hair suited her and was an astonishing sight in comparison to the other-worldly glow of her locks earlier that day.

"_She's alive then."_

"_What makes you think that?"_

Her words were like a back hand to the face and he found he had to steady himself.

"_I would imagine your entrance would have been a little different had the situation been otherwise."_

"_Maybe I'm a little more subtle than that."_

She sat down and smiled up at him quite contently.

"_Of that I've no doubt."_

She nodded. _"You're cute, I'll give you that. And I'll bet you were very sweet once. As much as Buffy enjoys a brooding man – she does like them sweet."_

"_Does?"_

"_Does."_

He clasped his hands behind his back.

"_With that admission now behind us. What else is there that you would like to discuss?"_

"_Oh come on, don't pretend you weren't expecting me."_

He smiled menacingly._ "I've been around a while, there is very little that I consider "unexpected" anymore."_

"_I'll wager you never expected, in your wildest dreams, to fall so hard and fast for a Vampire Slayer."_

His expression didn't change but he was suddenly tempted to rip out the Slayer's most trusted friends' heart and sample its blood. There was little doubt that she could achieve much the same with the power of her mind alone so he refrained.

"_I was hoping to pick your brain – that little brother of yours. Where is he? I'm sure he would like to be included in this conversation."_

"_Kol is gone," _Klaus' tone was final.

"_I assume you know where."_

"_You assume correctly."_

"_Ah, a sense of humour. You really take his attempt on Buffy's life that lightly?"_

"_When it comes to Buffy..."_

"_That's fine. People always say more when they're not speaking at all anyway. Would I also be correct in assuming you won't be paying her bedside a visit?"_

The way in which he lingered over her name was truly telling. Both of them were caught and in way too deep.

Klaus only regarded her. His eyes were narrowing to unimpressed slits. He was indeed a terrifying sight – he exuded predatory dominance. He positively vibrated with it. There were no tricks capable of cloaking such power.

"_Well perhaps it's for the best then. I'm going to place more faith in you than you likely deserve and trust that Kol will be kept far and away – lest he meet my wrath."_

"_Then he'll be running from us __**both**__," _Klaus retorted smoothly.

"_I'm glad we agree."_

Willow stood to leave. _"I'm looking to take her back home. Tomorrow. Should there be anymore…"_

"_There won't be." _ He had turned to face the window again. So he didn't see the sympathy in Willow's eyes.

"_She missed you. Who am I kidding? She still misses you. I think she will always miss you, Nick."_

He smiled slightly, but remained silent. Willow turned to leave when he at last spoke up.

"_When I met Buffy, I was but a shadow of a man." _He paused so that he could look at Willow one last time. _"I like to think that the time we spent together left me altered forever. That I had at last come alive. She __**did**__ that to me. What I did to her…"_

Willow nodded then. _"You don't need me to tell you the effect you had upon her…but I think that the two of you - over these last couple of years – also came to accept that things had finished. That they were truly over. What neither of you accepted was that it's okay. You can let go now." _ She smiled at him.

Klaus turned back to the window. The door closing quietly behind him.


	14. Chapter 14

The Salvatore house was quiet. And empty. Both brothers stood at the entryway with arms folded and heads cocked slightly to the left. They wore identical expressions – a mixture of bewilderment and confusion.

"_What do you suppose they're doing?" _Damon asked.

"_I think it's…some kind of meditation exercise?" _Stefan's tone betrayed just how flawed he was by the spectacle taking place out the front of their property.

"_Huh," _Damon nodded. Still not quite understanding.

"_A shame they're not wearing cute little outfits," _Willow spoke up from behind them. She laughed at the looks on their faces and playfully punched Damon in the arm –

"_Eavesdropping I see. Your shame knows no bounds."_

"_It was Stefan's idea," _Damon retorted.

Alaric sidled over to the three of them. Stefan offered a brief introduction before turning his attention back to the Slayer and her newest charge – on their front lawn –

"_What's happening over there?" _Alaric asked.

"_Tai chi," _Damon and Stefan answered in unison.

* * *

Buffy brought her arms up slowly above her head and shifted her weight to the left in a sweeping but seamless movement. Elena mirrored the movement, matching her breathing to the Slayers.

"_So is this some kind of Slayer exercise?"_

"_Not all Slayers practice tai-chi. It isn't specific to their training. I happen to enjoy it – it restores strength and poise."_

"_I do feel more relaxed."_

"_I'm glad. It was a Vampire who taught me, actually."_

"_A vampire?"_

"_Stranger things have happened, wouldn't you say?"_

Elena halted so that she could turn to face Buffy.

"_Your muscles will seize up if you just stop like that," _Buffy said.

"_It…wasn't Klaus who taught you, was it?"_

Buffy had to repress a snort of laughter, fearing it would frighten the girl.

"_No, it was most definitely not. He would see me doing it and laugh…I was always trying to get him to practice it – to calm him. He could be so…unreachable and then other times it was like…he belonged to me. All of him."_

Elena exhaled deeply, she hadn't realised that she was holding her breath.

"_Yes, I can imagine this would be difficult for you to take in. I never saw this "Klaus" that you know so well until the very end. Or perhaps I just never wanted to."_

"_Do I have to come back to Rome with you?" _

The question didn't surprise Buffy, she had been wondering about what she was going to do with Elena. She couldn't very well remove the only Slayer from the town. Not when so many supernatural creatures were looking to call it 'home.' She would be leaving the townspeople defenceless. It wasn't up to the Vampires to look out for the people, nor the ridiculous founder's council that she had told Buffy about. Their experience and knowledge only extended so far. Whereas the Slayer had existed for as long as there had been demons to fight. In other words, pretty much always. Buffy opened her mouth to answer when a new female voice spoke up.

_"Can I join you guys?" _

Buffy looked up to meet Caroline's eyes. She recognised the blonde vampire from the alleyway, the one that Nick had warned off of her.

_"Sure Caroline, This is-"_

_"Buffy. Yeah, it's nice to meet you," _Caroline said extending a hand and offering a soft smile. _"I've heard a lot about you."_

The two seemed to take measure of one another for a few seconds as something passed silently between them.

"_So, how do I do this?" _Caroline asked.

* * *

"_They're multiplying," _Stefan said at the sight of Caroline slipping easily into the rhythm.

"_Like bunnies," _Damon responded dryly.

Ric quirked an eyebrow at the two of them.

"_I don't see why you're getting so worked up over this."_

"_You don't have vampire hearing," _Stefan said regrettably.

"_Where did the witch go?" _Damon asked, looking around suspiciously.

* * *

Willow spelled the room and sat down to make a phone-call. There were far too many vampires in the vicinity not to take such precautions - and she didn't want anyone taking the initiative of running to tell Buffy just what she had brewing. The phone line on the other end rang a few times before a woman answered.

_"Hey Willow, How's B? You get there in time to save the day?"_

_"Naturally," _Willow retorted with a toss of her hair.

_"So what's up?"_

_"I wanted to know if you were busy?"_

_"Right now?"_

_"For the next few months…maybe a year."_

_"If you're expecting me to fly out there - you had better be springing my airfare."_

_"Deal, now get over here- please."_

_"I'm guessing B doesn't know about this little arrangement?"_

When Willow didn't respond Faith laughed long and loud.

"_I'll see you soon."_

* * *

Each of the women took a deep breath, extending their bodies to the ground and back up again.

_'Have you been hunting him this entire time?" _Caroline asked.

_"Yes. Or I thought I was. It's different when you suddenly find yourself face to face with the person who has been the driving force behind your actions for the past two years."_

_"I can't believe Klaus came clean to you about…all of it," _Elena said looking from Buffy to Caroline. _"Have you told Tyler?...Wait, Tyler! Was he there last night as well?"_

_"No he wasn't. He was with me all night. Klaus didn't take him."_

_"Why not?"_

_"Because I asked him not to."_

Buffy pretended not to notice the conflict in the blonde vampire's tone. She couldn't direct her. She had her own conflicts raging.

_"He came to your rescue. Does that count for anything?" _Caroline asked.

_"It's not really that simple."_

_"He's a monster," _Elena said. _"He can't get a free ride because he has __**now **__deigned to let us all live."_

_"I know that," _Caroline said. _"Men are so stupid."_

Buffy chuckled. _"An actual __**man**__ might be a nice change of pace for all of us."_

Caroline and Elena laughed as well, and for a few moments the tension of the conversation was relieved. But it didn't last.

_"Willow said he's leaving,"_ Elena spoke up. She noticed the frown creep onto Caroline's face, and the way Buffy was studying her Vampire friend was equally distressing. Was she jealous that Klaus appeared to have found somebody else? She just couldn't be sure of anything. There was something going on between Buffy and Damon that was also making her nervous. Buffy was right. It was time for new boyfriends all around. Human boyfriends.

Caroline slumped to the grass and crossed her legs.

_'And what about you, Elena? Are you going to go to Rome?"_

Elena looked to Buffy.

"_I don't know," _She whispered.

* * *

Stefan took a step back into the mansion and disappeared. Ric raised an eyebrow at Damon.

_"Bad news?"_

"_That's what happens when you eavesdrop."_

"_And what about you? What exactly are you waiting to hear?"_

Damon eyed the history teacher for a moment. He wasn't the most amiable Vampire and he knew it, but Ric was counted amongst a very small list of people that he wouldn't like to see dead…though he had killed him a couple of times himself.

"_I already got what I wanted."_

"_Oh really? Then why are you still listening?"_

* * *

Dusk fell too quickly over Mystic Falls. Buffy's final day in the town was drawing to a close – with her flight being the following afternoon - and very little had been resolved. Damon took the steps two at a time into the cellar for a much needed blood bag, though he would have preferred something warmer. Something alive. Buffy's dream had been very forthcoming, she wasn't looking to win the Original's heart back. So her bloodlust may have also come to a crashing halt…that was slightly more worrying. _What if she warms up to the douche all over again?_ He sighed, slamming the fridge closed to find Elena there. He hadn't heard her come in.

She smiled at the surprise on his face.

"_You made that too easy, It almost wasn't funny. Almost," _She smiled sweetly and he could do nothing but return the warmth.

"_It's nice to see you smile, you don't do it nearly often enough."_

"_Helps having you around, keeps things…light…kind of."_

He frowned now as he slurped from the bag.

"_Am I going somewhere?"_

Elena shrugged. _"I don't know. You tell me?"_

"_I thought __**you**__ were the only one leaving town."_

"_That hasn't been decided yet."_

"_Have you talked to Stefan about it?"_

"_No." _Elena settled herself against the wall. "_I think he's mad and I wanted to give him some time alone."_

"_So you came to me instead?" _Damon smiled. _"What if I needed some time to brood over the idea of losing you as well? What about my feelings?"_

Elena rolled her eyes to the ceiling.

"_As if you think I haven't noticed that something is going on between you and Buffy."_

"_Are you jealous?"_

"_No, Damon. I am concerned though – it just seems sort of fast and…like you haven't put much thought into it."_

"_If you're jealous, Elena, then just come out and say it. I won't make fun," _He grinned at her frustration.

"_She doesn't know what she wants Damon. She is still hung up on Klaus, crazy murderer or not. I can see it. Do you really want to get involved with her while she is trying to figure her feelings out?"_

"_What's the alternative, Elena? Waiting around for __**you**__ to make up __**your**__ mind?" _He hadn't meant for the words to come out with such harshness but there they were. Out on the table, once again.

"_So that's it, is it? Are you punishing me? You're going to follow her to Rome all to get back at me because I love you __**both**__."_

"_No, Elena. You don't love us both. It can't be __**both**__ of us._"

"_Look, I care about you Damon. And I trust you, I trust you with my life." _She crossed to him to place a hand on his cheek. _"I just don't want to see you chasing after a woman who is only going to leave you broken hearted again."_

Damon shoved her hand away. _"I believe the love-sick puppy title belongs to my brother and it's not about you anymore, Elena. Don't you get it?"_

"_Are you in love with her?" _Elena's expression contorted from surprise and shock to hurt. _"Cause you don't even know her."_

"_Well I want to."_

"_And what are you going to do? Compel her some more or manipulate her dreams? Even if it's only a one night stand you're looking– _

There was a loud thud from upstairs that cut off Elena before she could finish. They abandoned the heated discussion and made their way up to meet the commotion.

* * *

Faith pressed a hand to Stefan Salvatore's chest and shoved him aside.

"_Move it, Vampire. Willow sent me." _She dropped her bag over the threshold of the enormous Salvatore Mansion and strode right in.

Stefan took a moment to take the Slayer in. She wasn't overly tall or powerful looking but then again neither was Buffy. Something they did however share was their ability to take control of any given situation. That and the fact that they exuded power. In their walk, the gleam in their eyes and the unwavering timbre of their voices.

"_You could at least have waited to be asked in," _Elena spoke up as she stepped in beside Stefan. Her eyes travelled down Faith – from her dark, tousled locks, her trademark bare midriff and right onto the combat boots.

"_That's one of the things I love about being human – not having to wait for an invitation." _

Willow stepped into the room followed closely by Buffy. When the Slayer recognised who had just arrived she turned immediately on her best friend.

"_I suppose you're to blame for…that?"_

"_Faith's here to help."_

"_Oh, so that's what we're calling it now? Don't you remember what happened to the last girl you asked her to mentor one on one?"_

"_She's had practice since then…That was just a freak accident anyway. People can't be held responsible for freak accidents," _Willow replied meekly.

"_B! Don't I get a hug?" _The dark haired Slayer crossed the room and punched Buffy's arm in greeting.

"_You look fine to me, and here I thought you were in some kind of danger," _she grinned cheekily as Buffy ran her hands over her face.

"_I must be having another nightmare."_

"_Want me to hit you again, just in case?"_

"_Everyone, this is Faith. Approach her at your own risk."_

Faith raised a hand in a half-hearted wave of greeting, she noticed Damon for the first time eyeing the newest addition to the household.

"_Well, he's easy on the eyes," _Faith whispered a little loudly to Buffy.

"_I'm Faith."_ She extended a hand to him which he took.

"_Damon."_

"_Well, now that everyone is all introduced, why don't we-" _

"_Always gotta be in-charge, don't you, B? No one come after your title yet?" _Faith interrupted her.

"_Oh, I'm sure you'll get working on that."_

Faith raised her hands as if to concede. "_I'm __**The**__ Slayer too, so I think I have the right to be heard."_

"_That's fine with me, you can stand there all night if you like – I'll be upstairs, in bed, but I'll be listening. I promise." _Buffy laid a firm hand on her friend's shoulder and turned to make her way back to Damon's bedroom. She couldn't deal with Faith right at the moment but Willow was in for a world of trouble in the morning.

"_Night then, B – catch you in the morning."_

"_Try not to kill anyone in the meantime," _Buffy tossed over her shoulder.

* * *

Faith stood outside the mansion. The moon was full and high, casting a brilliant light over the place. More vampires and love triangles. It was easy enough to spot. And a potential Slayer caught in the middle of it all. Yes, the usual kind of drama. She could handle that but it was all becoming kind of dull. And if all the hottie vamps were taken, who was left for her?

She was blowing out a bored breath when Elena stepped out into the night.

"_I hope I'm not bothering you," _She said.

"_It's cool," _Faith retorted easily. When she made no effort to continue Elena took the liberty.

"_I'm really grateful to you for coming all this way, for taking me on. I can't wait to start training and learning everything that you-_

"_Yeah yeah," _Faith said, but she was smiling. _"I've had worse jobs, so you don't need to get all thanksy. We all fight the good fight."_

"_Can I ask you, did you really let some other girl die?"_

"_Nah, that's just B. I didn't let her die – I couldn't really stop it, It was kind of funny actually, if you wanna hear the story."_

"_I'm pretty tired, actually…been a crazy couple of days,"_ Elena said. "_I just wanted to make sure you found a room and were comfortable for the night."_

Faith's smile was all teeth. How she loved to tease the Potentials. So young and naïve…and terrified of her.

"_Got a room. I'm five by five. Just used to keeping a look out I guess, especially with B not feeling the best."_

"_You're a good friend. Good night."_

Faith nodded, but turned suddenly.

"_What is it?" _Elena asked.

"_Thought I heard something."_

She wandered all around the mansion, but the moon illuminated every possible hiding place – nothing and nobody would have been able to conceal themself from her. She started back to the front of the house with a shrug.

* * *

Buffy sunk comfortably into Damon's bed. Today had been one of those days where everything seemed to be tied up neatly and yet in truth, nothing had been resolved. There were still questions to be answered. But there would always be questions. Explanations were also wanting but then again when did an explanation actually solve anything?

What was important was Elena.

She had come to unlock a hidden power within her and felt safe in her decision to let her remain in Mystic Falls, to train and protect the town. The young woman was remarkable. She was strong, not just physically, but both in will and spirit. She was considerate but she was nobody's fool. She had also gotten herself mixed up in an intricate vampire love triangle. Another thing they had in common. Buffy had no intention of sleeping, instead her mind became consumed with the events of that week. She brushed her fingertips over her neck thoughtfully, so she would have a new scar to add to the collection. And about a hundred more emotional ones. It came with the job.

_Yes, well. This is good. Elena will make a formidable Slayer and I can go back to Rome._ _That's the end of it. Nick is probably already gone. Like Willow said._

_Klaus. _

_They all call him that_. It sounded odd to her. She had meant to kill him but even if the stake had penetrated his heart he would still be alive. Something deep inside of her whispered words she didn't want to hear right at that moment. That perhaps she had known all along that it wouldn't have worked. She had been given the power, no, the knowledge to kill every vampire that lived on the earth since coming to Mystic Falls. To end their demonic race once and for all. But when she thought of Angel and Spike…and Damon and Stefan. What was she supposed to do with such information? People were similarly inclined to good and evil – it didn't mean she had the right to wipe all of them out. So it would be for the Vampires. And for Nick.

Buffy sighed. She missed the press of the talisman against her chest. The security that he had been able to give her was gone. The one piece of him she had left was gone.

Buffy squirmed beneath the covers suddenly feeling very alone and vulnerable. She wondered where Damon was and why he wasn't trying to get into bed with her. She would have welcomed his company. That hadn't been tied up either. The whole situation with him was in knots. She knew that she wanted him but she didn't know if it was enough…but at the same time, there wasn't anyone else that she could have wanted to carry her out of those woods the night before. He got her. From the very night that the two of them met, he managed to weasel his way into her heart. How was it even possible?

She heard somebody clear their throat across the room and when she looked up there was a man. He wore a gentleman's suit. Spiffy was the word she would have used to describe it. Yes, he looked particularly spiffy for a man at two in the morning but then again he _was_ a vampire.

"_By all means, come in,"_ Buffy said. Her tone was mild but her gesture airy as she motioned Elijah Mikaelson towards her. He smiled politely and crossed the room, his impeccably arranged hair swaying gently as he walked. Buffy noticed his eyes immediately. They looked like Nick's. Old.

"_If you will forgive the intrusion, Miss Summers. My name is Elijah." _His hand was cool but gentle beneath hers as they shook.

"_You're a Mikaelson too,"_ was all Buffy said by way of greeting. Well it was obvious that he knew exactly who she was!

"_That's correct," _he said, seating himself on a chair beside the bed.

For a moment they simply regarded one another.

"_Did you want something? An apology? Cause I have very few qualms about trying to kill your brother. Well. Brothers." _She was surprised she didn't choke on the lie. All she had was qualms.

"_No I did not come here for apologies, just as you would hardly expect me to excuse my own brother's behaviour. Ill-mannered as Kol may be he is a vampire and you a Slayer."_

And what excuse did he have for Nick?

"_**The**__ Slayer and I can live with that." _She promptly placed her hands in her lap as though daring him to rebuttal.

"_You're fiery. But then you would have to be. Nobody ever heard of a mousey Slayer."_

"_With all the Slayers you killed, you never came across one?"_

Elijah's expression didn't change, he merely began reaching into his breast pocket.

"_I can't say I ever did," _was his matter-of-fact retort.

Buffy stiffened noticeably. Wondering just what he had secreted away in his blazer.

"_You needn't be wary,"_ He assured her.

"_In these situations I would normally reach for a stake but then again what would be the point?" _

Elijah emitted a chuckle, surprising them both.

"_That's very astute of you, Miss Summers."_

"_Will you call me Buffy already, you have already barged into this house __**and **__this bedroom unannounced – I think we can dispense with the formalities."_

"_You're quite right of course, but, you see, my visit is of nobody else's concern but yours." _

It was then that Elijah reached over and gently released the missing talisman into her lap.

"_I believe this belongs to you."_

* * *

Buffy held the necklace up so that she could study the pendant. The same way she had the night that Nick had given it to her. Her fingers traced the eye and each ray of the sun. She still didn't know what the words meant. Perhaps they were the enchantment that held the talisman's power. She had never asked Willow or anyone to look into it because she had never shown them. The less who knew of it the better. Her hands were perfectly steady as she placed the long chain around her neck and tucked the pendant beneath her shirt.

"_Why did you bring this back to me?" _She asked Elijah. He had been studying her reaction intently. So she had returned his brother's love once, even now it lingered in her eyes.

"_It was Niklaus' wish that it be returned to you."_

"_Do you always do as Nick says?"_

"_He can be quite a difficult man to please though I daresay he thinks the same of me."_

"_You're very good at avoiding answering my questions. But I disagree with you just the same."_

Elijah crossed his feet at the ankles, settling himself down as though they were about to have a long discussion.

"_Might I ask what it is you disagree with me upon?"_

"_He isn't so difficult to please. He might come off that way but when you really get to know him then…"_

She couldn't finish the thought. It was too precarious a step to take. Buffy drew her knees up to her chin instead and looked over to where Elijah waited for her to continue.

"_I won't say anymore. I should think you know your brother just fine."_

"_Knowing somebody and understanding them are two quite different things are they not?"_

"_They're different," _she nodded slowly.

"_You see, I do happen to know my brother very well."_ Elijah folded his arms, settling deeper into the chair. His eyes were locked on Buffy's as he spoke. _"Too well. So much so that I thought there were no surprises left with Niklaus. I believed that I even understood the motivation behind his every action. What I have come to realise quite recently is that I little understand him at all." _

Terrible realisation began to dawn in the Slayer's eyes as she brought her hands to her mouth.

"_Has he done something?" _

"_Yes. Something quite -."_

"_When? Why? What has he done?" _Buffy suddenly felt as though she were itching all over, she abruptly threw the covers off the bed and began pacing the room. She would have to find him. This would all have to end. What could Elijah mean anyway? She looked back over to the vampire gentleman, her expression begging him to answer all of her unasked questions.

"_He asked me to return your necklace to you." _

Buffy stopped pacing as Elijah's voice languidly silenced every screaming thought in her head.

"_My brother asked me to come, not on his behalf, but as his brother, to give back to you something that had been wrongfully taken. He asked that I would answer any questions that you perhaps felt were unanswered. He asked that I be forthcoming in every respect."_

She had to sit down and did so where she stood. The wooden floor felt cold as the gravity of Elijah's words sunk in.

"_I don't have any questions."_

"_He really did love you Buffy, as he will love no other. My brother never asks for anything. He takes as he pleases and that is the man that I thought I knew."_

"_But it is over, right? He knows that it can't ever be how it was…that we have to put it behind us?"_

"_He knows." _

She didn't look at him. For the first time in a long time, her mind was quiet.

"_You'll catch cold if you stay there," _Elijah murmured.


	15. Chapter 15

Caroline stood at a front door. She stood for a long while. She stood for so long that she began to wonder about the make of the door, the wood, its age and colouring. In that time her hand came up, but she lost count of the times she brought it back down again. It was late. And she had snuck out of a bed warmed by the man she loved- so that she could stand at this particular door for hours and hours. Hesitating and flustering and...  
The door suddenly swung open before her, revealing a very grim Klaus.  
_"Caroline, sweetheart. What do you think you're doing?"__  
__"I'm showing you what a normal person does when they come to your house."__  
_His voice was devoid of all humour, and somewhat mixed with confusion_. "Are you telling me that it is customary to stand on someone's front door step for two hours without knocking?"_  
She stamped her foot internally.  
_"That's not what I meant."__  
__"Well, I must have missed the point then."__  
_She glowered at him and crossed her arms. _What was I thinking coming here like this? _  
_"Did you want to come inside or would you prefer to carry on out here?"__  
__"There are a few things that I think need saying. That__I__need to say. To you."_  
Klaus stepped aside so that she could pass him. She did so, quietly and hesitantly before changing her mind, she spun on the spot and walked straight into him. His hands came straight up to steady her but she stepped back immediately.  
_"...I changed my mind. I shouldn't be here."__  
_A ghost of a smile traced itself over his lips. For a moment he was amused, the week's events pushed to the back of his mind. He leaned over to open the door for her.  
_"Then it was nice to see you. Thank you again for showing me how 'normal' people interact. I'll be sure to drop by your house soon and…loiter."__  
__"Oh just shut up and listen. Don't you get that this is weird for me?_

She was adorable when she was angry, even more so when frustration marred her eyes and her lips.

_I'm not here to cry all over you or admit that I was wrong about you. If anything, I was right. Everything that you admitted to me – whether you did so to confuse me further or whatever – _

She forced herself to pause and take a breath. He was eyeing her closely, and somewhat suspiciously. But beneath that even she could see that he was enjoying her moral dilemma. _Oh he would. _She decided that she would have to change tactics.

"_I have someone in my life that I love. And it's not the everyday love, it's the crazy kind - the out of control kind of love. He's asleep, in my bed. And if he has woken up to find me gone then he will be out looking for me right now. But what you told me, that was something incredibly intimate. Personal."_  
The dim lights of the hall were all that lit up the night, casting two solitary shadows across the front of the house.  
_"And now I feel guilty because I can't tell him about what you shared with me. I can't reassure him that you came with honest intentions - that you just needed somebody to really listen to you. I can't reassure him that I wasn't...affected by it."_ She stopped and let out a huge breath. _"I feel like I hate you for that…but it doesn't seem fair,"_ she whispered.  
_"I apologise, I can see I've gotten you into quite a fix."_  
She began shaking her head.  
_"I should have thrown you out. I shouldn't have listened…"_  
_"You don't have to trouble yourself with it anymore, Love."_ He looked past her, into the gloom. _"I hope to be as far away from Mystic Falls as is possible by tomorrow."__  
__"So, it's true. You are leaving."__  
__"That's not distress I'm hearing in your tone, couldn't be?"__  
__"What about your hybrids? What about everything that happened these last two years?"__  
__"Haven't I told you before, just how vast the world is? How beautiful, ever-changing and inviting. I do believe I'll find something else to occupy my time. For a while." _He draped a hand over her shoulder, trying to be casual as he guided her away from the door. He was surprised at just how relaxed she felt under his grip. "_So you see, your relationship with young Tyler is safe. You can run along home, Caroline."_  
A part of her was already walking away, down the pathway and onto the street - the intelligent part of her. The rational side of her. The other, however, stood rooted to the steps with her eyes locked on his.  
_"It won't ever be the same with Tyler again. I feel like I know too much."__  
_He shifted so that he was facing her. His blue eyes drinking in her every feature. He came to clutch her porcelain face between his hands, gently stroking the stray tresses of her golden hair away.  
_"I can make you forget all about it. Consider it a parting gift."__  
__"No,"_ she shoved him hard, closing her eyes.  
_"You finally have someone who knows that there is another side to you, that there is good in you -"__  
__"But there is no good, Caroline."__  
__"Yes there is. And after everything that you have done, I would be one of the __**last**__ to admit it."__  
__"Then you have a foolish heart."__  
__"So what! At least I'm not running away from it."_  
His eyes flashed with rage.  
_"I love Tyler and I will be with him. But I don't know about forever anymore."__  
_The rage in his expression didn't waver as Caroline walked away.  
_"And you promised me a new phone, so I expect you to see to that before you leave," _she said. Not looking back.

* * *

Elijah jumped smoothly from the window, the ground rushing up to meet him in one swift movement. He looked back up to where Miss Summers watched him. He gave a polite nod, straightened his suit and walked back into the night. Well, early morning. He wondered if he would find Niklaus still at home or if his brother had already vanished. In many ways his brother was still a boy preferring to run as fast as he could from his problems. He hoped this experience had shown him that more often than not – the problems were quite able of catching up to him. Incidentally, they tried to kill you. They tested you and hopefully taught you something.

He had recognised some definite changes in his brother and for that he was proud.

A twig snapped audibly behind him, halting his musings, which he decided were the reason he hadn't sensed a presence behind him. He stopped and was just curious enough to turn around. A woman stood before him, not looking overly supernatural in any respect. But she stood with her arms arrogantly folded and her eyebrows raised as though she were challenging him.

"_I knew I heard something," _Faith said with a broad grin.

Elijah eyed her, there wasn't all that much of her. She wasn't a vampire, or a werewolf. She was unutterably human and she had snuck up on him. _Him_.

"_Have the Salvatore's hired security?_ _I hadn't heard."_

"_I guess you could say that, but I prefer the term "Slayer" – I'm picky like that." _She exaggerated the word Slayer, amused at the crease of his brow.

"_Another one of you, I should have known."_

"_You __**should**__ have seen the look on your face. You're kinda easy to sneak up on, Vampire. You may want to work on that."_

"_I'll be sure to do just that. Good evening then." _He made to walk away – the image of her tousled dark locks and mischievous dark eyes amusing him.

"_Not so fast, fancy pants. You really think you're going to walk away from this? A little innocent, late night B and E?"_

"_My name is Elijah Mikaelson and the business of my visit does not concern you in the slightest."_

"_Just visiting? So are you one of the good guys then?"_

Elijah chuckled. The remark was almost naive but on looking back at her he could see that she was gauging his reaction.

"_Who among us can truly say that they belong to one side – the good or the evil?"_

"_That sounds like the response of somebody who's leaning towards the __**evil**__ side to me." _

"_It sounds to me as though you have already made up your mind."_

"_I'm Faith," _She said suddenly – she extended a hand to him and he took it. Her grip was strong, and he found that she was in no hurry to let go. His grip on her tightened also – they were now trapped in an odd tug of war. _How incredibly immature._

"_It's been a long time since I've come face to face with a Slayer – and in the last twenty four hours I've come to be acquainted with two of them."_

"_You've met B then."_

"_I assume you mean Buffy Summers."_

"_Yeah, Her. And you're not just meeting any old Slayer – I am __**The**__ Slayer."_

"_She pointed that out also, you're quite a self aggrandizing lot."_

"_B's like that. Always self promoting, always right." _She rolled her eyes but her grip on him never wavered._ "I'll be glad to see the back of her – She's not as fun as I am." _She winked shamelessly.

"_Is this what Slayers have been reduced to? Making friends of their mortal enemies?"_

"_You wanna go?" _ In one fluid motion she released him - her denim jacket was tossed aside – revealing a petite yet agile body, accentuated by a small, tight shirt.

"_You desire a fight?"_

"_Always."_

"_I'm afraid my schedule just wouldn't allow it at this time."_

"_Rain-check then," _she said, straightening herself out of the fighting stance she had so smoothly adopted.

"_I look forward to it. A pleasure meeting you Faith."_

He didn't see the glimmer in her eyes as he turned away once more. Perhaps it would have served him good warning to know that she thoroughly enjoyed a challenge.

* * *

Buffy opened her eyes to the morning sunshine streaming through the window. She felt a comforting body beside her, a bare, alabaster chest – she smiled up at Damon.

"_It's the strangest thing," _Damon said contemplatively.

Buffy, still foggy with sleep only continued her watery smile. _"There you are...what's strange?" _And just like that, the fog had cleared.

"_Why is it that I could get into your dream the night before last…but now…"_

He was studying her, trying to work her out.

"_What are you talking about?" _She asked cautiously.

"_Did the witch put some sort of protective spell on you or something?"_

"_No, nobody put a spell on me," _Buffy said incredulously.

"_You sure about that?" _Damon asked with a sly wink.

"_Shut up. __**When**__ were you inside my dream? Why would you do something like that?"_

Damon gave a sheepish shrug as realisation dawned on Buffy's face.

"_Is that what Elena was talking about? You were…eavesdropping on my dream?"_

She gave his gorgeous chest a shove hard enough to send him sprawling off the bed and onto the floor.

"_You __**really**__ need to stop doing that."_

"_I wouldn't have to if you quit being such an ass," _she threw back.

She pulled the covers up to her neck, her green eyes locking with his sadly. _"How could you do that to me?"_

He was ready to wink again, his eye was practically twitching but- the look of betrayal on her face kept him from feeling too smug. He had wanted to come clean to her about the mental intrusion. So he couldn't back down now.

"_I had to know something and I wasn't entirely convinced that you would give me an honest answer had I asked you."_

She wasn't the least bit impressed. _"Or maybe you were just too chicken to come out and ask the question."_

"_I'm not too chicken to do anything," _He said – firing up.

"_Are so! You got inside my head without asking permission. What did you do to me?" _Buffy raised her hands to her head, as though searching for some flaw in her skull. Something that he had perhaps planted there.

"_I didn't __**do**__ anything, I just sort of…caught the show."_

There were only so many times a vampire could shrug sheepishly. So his face turned serious instead. He was going to lose her. And she wasn't even his yet.

"_Well I hope that my dream kept you sufficiently entertained." _ She tossed off the bedcovers – she felt like storming out of the room but couldn't quite bring herself to be that childish.

"_You were inside my head, watching and listening. How come I couldn't see you?" _

"_I didn't want to be seen."_

"_That's a nifty trick," _She muttered annoyed.

"_Has its advantages. And its pitfalls."_

"_Was my dream helpful?"_

"_You've gone all soft on me, is this the extent of the wrath of __**the**__ Slayer?"_

"_Don't test me, Damon. Just answer the question."_

"_What's it to you?"_

She threw her hands up – _"It was __**MY**__ dream! What do you think it is to me?"_

"_Okay, okay – I won't do it again. I promise."_

"_Like I'd give you the chance." _ She wrenched the necklace from out of her nightshirt.

"_This is what was keeping you out earlier. Safe-guarding my mind from your…your dream snooping."_

"_I didn't know that you owned a vervayne necklace."_

"_It's not herbal. It's enchanted." _She huffed out a breath and shook her head at him. _"What did you see?" _She already knew the answer to that. The night before last she had been having that nightmare. She wondered just how much he had tuned in for.

"_All of it," _He said. Reading her perfectly. _"I saw it all."_

"_And?"_

"_And you're going home today, Far enough away that your dreams will be safe from my…snooping," _He smiled at her grimly.

"_Don't get cute with me, be a man about it at the very least." _She sighed then. _"If there's something between you and Elena then that's fine. You don't have to-_

"_No, it's not Elena. Elena and Stefan are the golden couple. She has made her choice, even if she denies it."_

"_Well, I can't force you to make up your mind about all of it, Damon. You have to tell me what __**you**__ want. Cause I have already decided who I __**don't**__ want."_

"_He gave you that necklace, didn't he?"_

Buffy pressed her lips together. _"Yes."_

"_And you'll always wear it. There will be a reminder of him, resting around your neck. Forever."_

"_I'll have the scars from his psycho-loony brother engraved into my throat too – that's not going to change anything. We shouldn't be talking about that past, because that is done and finished. My dream, that you so unceremoniously infiltrated – showed you just that."_

She paused. _"I'm not in love with him anymore. But I can't stay here. I belong in Rome, I have responsibilities there. And I have to put all of this behind me once and for all."_

He eyed the half packed suitcase lying on the floor at her feet. He wasn't saying anything and she felt the weight of a great sadness slowly descend upon her.

"_I shouldn't have to tell you what to do. Only you can decide that for yourself."_

She slipped out of the room, hoping that he would understand her.

* * *

Caroline slipped into her house. It was quiet, empty of everything but silence. She slid slowly to the floor, easing herself up against the front door. She could hear her mother's steady breathing. And Tyler's. Both of them ignorant and at peace in sleep. The sun was coming up behind her, illuminating the hallway – a new day had begun. The horrors and terrible truths of the week were just, for a few moments, distant and irrelevant. Klaus was leaving town. Had it already been two years? As quickly, and violently as his arrival to town had been…well…that was all over now. The beautiful, terrifying man had poured out his heart to her, he had shown her that he had one. She was questioning herself, her beliefs and her judgements. She shoved her head back and into the door with a dull thud.

_Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. I let him get inside my head. And he somehow got into my heart..._

* * *

Willow lugged her suitcase out the door, Stefan gave a small smile as he made to help her with the luggage.

"_This would be a whole lot easier if we just teleported," _Willow huffed out a breath.

"_I don't do teleportation. It makes me sick." _Buffy glared back at her best friend as she loaded their bags into the taxi. She refused the Salvatore's offer to see her and Willow to the air-port. She knew of something that she could bear even less than the motion sickness of mystical travel. Goodbyes.

"_You hear that, Buffy's one true weakness," _Faith chuckled out the remark and Elena almost smiled. As much as Buffy wanted to roll her eyes, she was glad that the two of them were getting along. Perhaps the experience would soften Faith. _Not a chance in hell._ She shrugged to herself and was pulled into a hug by the newly awakened Slayer.

"_If you need anything, and I mean anything. You just have to pick up the phone," _Buffy assured her. She held the girl affectionately to her chest.

"_Or you could even just think it, really loud. I'm always listening."_

They all turned to regard Willow, somewhat horrified.

"_Show off," _Buffy muttered.

"_Is that how you knew to come? You just showed up because you could…sense trouble?" _Elena asked.

"_Had some help from your friend Bonnie, she's a resourceful witch. She found me."_

Elena nodded slowly. That sounded like Bonnie.

The taxi driver beeped his horn impatiently but Damon hadn't come down yet. Buffy looked back up the pathway – while Willow tugged at her sleeve.

"_We can't miss the flight, Buffy."_

She took a step back, her eyes turning to each of them. Elena was smiling, confidence and self-assurance lit up her eyes as she waved. She was in the cab without realising it, the glass of the window now in her way. The roar of the car's engine was deafening – she didn't hear their goodbyes but saw mouths move mutely. She frowned and turned away from them. The street was empty but she felt the unusual yet familiar sensation of being watched. She looked back to wave as the car pulled away.

* * *

"_You just couldn't stay away, could you?" _Damon said. He had been on his way out the door when he had noticed the Original standing some distance away in the shadow of a tree. Had Stefan's diet consisted of something a little more potent than bunny blood – he might have also picked up on the unwelcome presence. But for once, Damon was glad that that wasn't the case.

Klaus stood his ground, his eyes barely lingering on the Salvatore. Instead they followed the clunky taxi as it travelled down the road, getting steadily smaller until it was gone – the roar of its engine disappearing also.

"_You wear your jealousy with such dignity, Damon," _Klaus retorted mildly. _"I'm rarely wrong in my assumptions so you will have to forgive me, but why aren't you on your way to the air-port with our fair slayer?" _

"_I do as I please."_

"_Me too." _He clapped him on the shoulder. "_We have a great deal in common."_

Damon shrugged the hybrid's hands off of him. _"And what are you hanging around for? Hoping she'll come back for you?"_

Klaus' eyes clouded over, but there was no anger in his voice.

"_I've seen her off. There's really nothing more for me to do."_ He turned to leave, ready to put Mystic Falls and the people who lived there well and truly out of his mind.

"_She's wearing the damn thing."_

The words met his ears and they made him smile. He stopped but refused to look back.

"_I have some loose ends to tie up, but I'm going to her. Tomorrow," _Damon said.

"_She's a difficult woman to resist."_

"_Too late for you, cause she's mine now."_

"_Guard her well then, Salvatore. Or you will have __**me**__ to answer to."_

* * *

Klaus Mikaelson buried his hands into his jacket pockets, his right hand clutching a plane ticket and his left clasping a brand new mobile phone. He had one more stop to make.


	16. Chapter 16

Epilogue

It was raining in Rome as evening fell, the sky became steadily blanketed with clouds. Dark and ominous. As the night grew later, so too had the clouds become overwhelmed, opening up and letting pour forth from the heavens a great torrent of delicious summer rain. The air was fresh and invigorating. Buffy Summers found herself pausing to appreciate the clarity such weather offered but was quickly on the move again, sprinting through the downpour, dripping wet and _very_ late. She danced past the club bouncer and taking one last peek up at the night sky – It glimmered as though dripping with jewels – bumped straight into Elijah Mikaelson. Buffy blinked once, then twice. And not just because her blonde locks were running like faucets into her eyes. Elijah cleared his throat and clasped his hands in front of him.  
_"Miss Summers."_  
She opened her mouth and shut it. How exactly was she supposed to greet him after all this time? After everything that had happened.  
_"Elijah, That's some outfit."_

He might have blushed had he not spent the last thousand years as the living un-dead.  
_"Not my usual style, let me assure you."_  
_"So that game of Tetris taking place on your shirt...not your idea?"  
"It's nice to see that the years have not altered you."_  
_"Nor you,"_ she retorted. Her smile mirrored the rare trace of mirth on his face. But the pair of them quickly grew sombre.

_"He's here, isn't he?"  
"He is."  
"Are you leaving?"  
"I am,"_ he smiled fondly. _"I think my shirt is beginning to upstage the…decor."_

Buffy chuckled to keep herself from glancing nervously around the night club. His jokes were really a kind gesture to calm her nerves for what was sure to be a trying reunion.  
_"I'm afraid I must be going."_  
_"Wait…"_  
It may have been two years since their conversation but neither of them had forgotten it. He had immediately noticed the necklace glistening at her throat when she ran into him.

"_You left a little abruptly all those years ago. Which I can forgive seeing as your shirt is likely to keep me laughing for the next decade…"_

_"I'm secure in leaving you to your wise-cracks then."  
"No, wait," _she repeated. _"You said that he knew it was all over. He let it go. And it's true, I haven't heard from him since. I'm grateful for those things you said that night. For coming to see me as you did."_

Thoughts about Nick were never far from her mind, though she was comfortable in admitting she thought about him less and less. He was changed, she knew that. She had changed him and he had left her equally affected. _Great love is supposed to change you, it doesn't let you forget who or what you were before the transformation but it's about reconciliation with that person. Acceptance. It's about moving on to something both new and right._ What time had given her since then was the strength to look back on that period of her life and know that it had been right. And it was finished.

Elijah studied Buffy, her mind had apparently wandered off. _Humans have such short attention spans. _He gave a small nod in the direction of the dance floor and disappeared into the summer rain. No small feat in such a shirt. Buffy followed the direction of his movement with a cautious glance of her green eyes.

* * *

Klaus sidled along the dance floor, his hands travelled along the beautiful woman's waist. He was caressing and playful and ever gentlemanly. The young woman gripped the front of his shirt, tugging him closer so that she could sneak a kiss.

_Caroline._

He breathed her in. Then he spun her, once, twice, three times clearing the floor. People applauded their skill and grace, making Caroline laugh. When she was back in his arms again he saw _her_ over Caroline's head. After two years she stood at his club's doorway. She was tossing droplets of rain from her hair, smoothing down a black dress. But those eyes. So alive, so green, locked with his. She didn't move. Over the throngs of people and vampires that walked, talked, danced and drank - they watched each other. Her eyes travelled briefly to Caroline and back to him. A small smile very slowly formed on her lips. He'd kissed those lips once.

* * *

Buffy's heart didn't exactly stop. But its rhythm became very apparent to her. He was holding Caroline and it made her smile. So Elijah had wanted to give them some privacy then. (Or he had been sneaking off to see a girl. Rumours travelled.) His eyes watched her for a time – making her realise, unashamedly, that there would always be love in her heart for him. Then when it seemed that the music at last drowned out the sounds of her heart working overtime, he gave her a small nod and a smile that was _all_ Nick.

Buffy turned on her heel and walked away, into the masses of people. She approached a table where a man sat alone. He wore a black collared shirt, slightly open and cradled a scotch he'd barely touched. Well, not exactly a man but he had been a man once. A smug smile crossed his lips as she approached. He glanced at his bare wrist, shaking his raven locks – alabaster skin shimmering with each turn of his head.

"_You're a terrible date,"_ he teased.

"_I know, I'm late."_ Buffy raised her eyebrows in contrition, making Damon laugh.

"_You should know better than to leave your man unattended for so long."_

"_And why's that?" _She sat down beside him now and his arm circled her shoulders. He brushed some rain droplets from her skin and hair.

"_Well, I've met someone in your absence"_ – he leaned in closer _"Several someones."_ A mischievous smile crossed his lips.

He began pointing around the crowded club. _"Her...and that one...and ooh check out the brunette."_

Buffy elbowed him half-heartedly and snatched his drink. She took a sip.

"_Don't make me stake you."_

"_Maybe later,"_ he winked.

"_Just us two, or do you plan on inviting the entire harem?"_

He paused as though thinking it over. _"You'll do. Now dance with me."_

As Damon Salvatore twirled her onto the dance-floor, he had to ask.

"_Did you see them?"_

Buffy wrapped her arms around his neck, her fingers combing through the thick, midnight tendrils she so adored.

"_Yes."_

His eyes were searching now. Searching for regret, shame. _Would she run?_ But when her green eyes looked into his he couldn't see anything but the love that belonged to him. She leaned in close, her breath at his ear, her mouth at his cheek.

"_I choose __**you**__, Damon. I choose you."_ Buffy laughed when he lifted her and felt the rest of the room fade as he kissed her.

End.

* * *

Note: The story isn't entirely over yet ;)


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